O's hiring Phillies' Lind as hitting coach (source)

BALTIMORE -- The first new member of the Orioles’ coaching staff for the 2026 season will be one with ties to first-year manager Craig Albernaz.

Baltimore is set to hire Philadelphia assistant hitting coach Dustin Lind to serve as the club’s lead hitting coach, according to a source. The club has not confirmed the news.

Lind, 37, has been in his current role with the Phillies for the past two seasons. Prior to that, he was director of hitting and assistant hitting coach for the Giants from 2020-23. Lind overlapped with Albernaz in San Francisco for those four seasons, as Albernaz was the Giants’ bullpen and catching coach at the time.

A Bozeman, Mont., native, Lind is a former outfielder who played at Montana State University-Billings (2007-08) and Sierra College (2010-11). He broke into the MLB coaching ranks in ‘18, when he was hired by the Mariners as a Minor League quality assurance coach after previously serving as an independent hitting consultant for the previous four years.

Lind became Seattle’s director of hitting development and strategies in 2019, before departing to work for then-Giants manager Gabe Kapler in San Francisco.

The Orioles are in the process of overhauling their coaching staff, most notably making changes to their hitting department. Cody Asche (the lead hitting coach in 2025) was hired by the Tigers to serve as assistant hitting coach, while O’s assistant hitting coaches Tommy Joseph and Sherman Johnson won’t be returning, sources told MLB.com. Johnson left to become a Minor League hitting coordinator for the White Sox.

According to a source, bench coach Robinson Chirinos also won’t be back in Baltimore. Another departure came Friday, when Tony Mansolino -- the Orioles' third-base coach from 2021-25, who then went 60-59 as interim manager this past season -- was hired by the Braves to be their third-base coach.

It’s not surprising the Orioles are heading in a new direction with their hitting coaches. The team underperformed offensively during its 75-87 showing in 2025, ranking tied for 24th in MLB in average (.235), 21st in OPS (.699) and 24th in runs scored (677).

Lind will try to get the most out of a promising position-player core built around Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser and more.

When Albernaz was introduced as Baltimore’s manager at a press conference inside the Camden Yards warehouse on Tuesday, the 43-year-old discussed his offensive philosophy and how he hopes to implement it with the O’s.

“I think, if you watch the game of baseball, you have to have a diverse offense,” Albernaz said. “I mean, I think anyone would want any of their teams to go out and hit 10 home runs a night. You can sign me up for that. But like I said, it’s a hard game. So for us, we have to be a diverse offense. We have to do the little things right. When guys are struggling or going through a little rut, you have to find a way to keep the line moving and be productive for your team and for the organization.

“That’s something we’re going to preach, about just being a more diverse offense, and so we’re going to have a number of ways to beat you.”

Surely, Lind will have a similar thought process, given the fact he’s getting hired by Albernaz and president of baseball operations Mike Elias, who are working collaboratively to build the coaching staff for 2026. The O’s will likely target at least one assistant hitting coach to work alongside Lind next season.