The Baltimore Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde on Saturday after a dismal start to the season by a team coming off two consecutive playoff appearances.

The Orioles entered Saturday 15-28 and in last place in the AL East following a loss to Washington on Friday night. Hyde guided the team through an extensive rebuild and won manager of the year honors in 2023, but Baltimore’s performance slipped noticeably during the second half of last year, and the Orioles have put themselves in a significant hole so far in 2025.

Third base coach Tony Mansolino will serve as interim manager. Also fired was major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins.

Hyde, who played for Long Beach State in 1997, is the third major league manager fired in the last 10 days, joining Pittsburgh’s Derek Shelton and Colorado’s Bud Black.

Hyde was in his seventh season as Baltimore’s manager. He endured seasons of 108 and 110 losses early on, but by 2023, the Orioles won the AL East with 101 victories — and the future looked incredibly bright thanks to young standouts like infielder Gunnar Henderson, catcher Adley Rutschman and right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.

But after a 49-25 start last year, the Orioles played sub-.500 baseball the rest of the way and settled for a wild card. For a second straight season, Baltimore was swept out of the playoffs in its first series.

ROYALS pitchers on il

Kansas City Royals All-Star pitchers Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo were placed on the 15-day injured list on Saturday.

Left-hander Ragans was moved to the list with a left groin strain and right-hander Lugo with a third finger sprain.

Ragans, a 2024 All-Star, is 2-3 with a 4.53 ERA in nine starts this season.

Lugo, also a 2024 All-Star, has not pitched since May 11. He is 3-4 with a 3.02 ERA in nine starts this season.

Lugo and Ragans finished second and fourth, respectively, in the AL Cy Young ballot last season. Lugo won an AL Gold Glove.

Ragans is the team leader in strikeouts and second in the AL with 72. Lugo is the team leader in innings pitched with 56 2/3 innings.

CUBS SIGN MAEDA

The Chicago Cubs agreed to a minor league contract with Kenta Maeda, giving the right-hander another chance to regain his form.

The 37-year-old Maeda had a 7.88 ERA in seven relief appearances for Detroit this season before he was designated for assignment on May 1. He went 3-7 with a 6.09 ERA in 17 starts and 12 relief appearances in his first year with the Tigers in 2024 after agreeing to a $24 million, two-year contract in November 2023.

Maeda made his major league debut with the Dodgers in 2016, when he went 16-11 with a 3.48 ERA in 32 starts. He spent four seasons with the Dodgers, going 47-35 with a 3.87 ERA in 137 games (103 starts), before being traded to the Minnesota Twins in February 2020.

He was 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 11 starts for the Twins during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, finishing second in AL Cy Young Award balloting.

Maeda, who missed the 2022 season because of Tommy John surgery, is 68-56 with a 4.20 ERA in 226 major league games, including 172 starts.

The NL Central-leading Cubs have three key starting pitchers on the injured list. Shota Imanaga has a mild left hamstring strain, and Javier Assad has an oblique issue. Justin Steele is out for the rest of the season with an elbow injury.

Imanaga got hurt during a 4-0 loss at Milwaukee on May 4. Counsell said the team wants to get through this weekend before laying out a plan for Imanaga’s return.