Hyde looks back on 2019, ahead to 2020; Santander rests; Williams won’t play this weekend

BOSTON—A little over seven months ago, Brandon Hyde began his first spring training as a major league manager in Sarasota, Florida. His second spring training begins on February 11.

“The season did kind of fly by,” Hyde said late Friday afternoon as the Orioles prepared for their final series of the season against the Red Sox.

“I remember being here early in the year, a little bit chilly, and now we’re here in the fall, excited to wrap up our last series here.”

In 2020, Hyde says things will be different.

“I think you learn from experiences, and I learned from my first year,” Hyde said. “Things I would do differently. Some things I’d like to keep the same. I thought we had a really good spring training this past year. I think we gave the guys a lot of opportunities to win major league jobs.

“I thought our energy in spring training was fantastic. I thought our work was really efficient, really well done. Those types of things I’m going to definitely keep the same. I know the routine a little bit better, and I’m looking forward to next spring.”

One thing that will help will be Hyde’s familiarity with the Orioles and the American League.

“We’ll see what offseason moves that we make and we’ll see what the spring training roster looks like,” Hyde said. “I think we’re a developing major league club … It’s going to be a lot easier knowing the majority of players that are in camp now.”

The Orioles will finish with a better record than they did last year when dropped a franchise-record 115 games, but the incremental gains aren’t satisfying.

“I think there’s still a lot of room for us to grow, obviously,” Hyde said. “I’m looking forward to our players improving this winter and getting ready to go for spring training.”

Hyde said that he’s seen enough of each player this season to form an opinion, though there’s wiggle room.

“Guys can change, too,” Hyde said. “Guys can improve. Sometimes what a player is at 24 isn’t what he is at 28. I think I’ve played everybody. I’ve tried to give guys as many innings as possible. Up to them to produce, up to them to force our hand on decisions we have to make from a roster standpoint at the end of the season … I think we’ve given everybody pretty much a fair shake to see what kind of a player they would be.”

Santander banged up: Anthony Santander is out of the lineup. He’s in a 1-for-23 slide.

Santander has hit just .155 in September and has watched his batting average fall from .291 to .261

“I wanted to give him a breather here,” Hyde said. “He’s been playing pretty banged up the last couple of weeks. To his credit, not saying anything to anybody and wanted to be out there. He’s a tough kid that wanted to finish the season strong, but physically he’s not quite right. We’ll see about the next couple of days.”

Santander has missed three of the previous four games.

“It’s a multitude of things that he has,” Hyde said. “He’s just really, really sore and hurting a little bit. He’s been keeping it from everybody and trying to play as hard as he can, so hopefully he’ll be in there tomorrow.”

Trumbo gets one more start: Mark Trumbo has received just 25 at-bats since his activation from the 10-day injured list on September 2, and he wasn’t in the lineup for Friday night’s game.

“He’s going to be available off the bench, and I’m probably going to start him on Sunday,” Hyde said.

Williams finished for 2019: After injuring his shoulder and knee in a collision with the outfield wall on September 17, Mason Williams hoped to play again before the end of the season.

Hyde said that’s no longer a possibility.

“I don’t think so,” Hyde said. “The clock’s going to run out. His knee is still really sore. He’s in the training room. I don’t see him this weekend.”