As the second half wore on, it was clear something wasn’t quite right with the Orioles’ offense.

Overall, the unit was still productive — ranking 11th out of 30 MLB teams in OPS after leading the American League in the first half — but the power fizzled and the clutch hits were few and far between.

When the Orioles squandered a bases-loaded, no-out opportunity in the playoffs, it wasn’t a surprise. It was far from their first time doing so, but it ended up being their last as the Game 2 loss in the AL wild-card series ended Baltimore’s season.

Orioles fans — who were equally as perplexed with what the team’s offense had become as those inside the clubhouse — wanted an easy answer, a scapegoat to blame. Naturally, for the loudest among them, that became co-hitting coaches Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller.

That duo will not be back in Baltimore next year after they parted ways with the organization, with Borgschulte set to join the Minnesota Twins. Whether they mutually agreed to not return, were fired or were about to be fired is unknown, as an Orioles spokesperson said the club does not comment on personnel matters.

However, it does signal a change by general manager Mike Elias and skipper Brandon Hyde — one that at the very least recognizes change was required after a second straight season ended in a postseason sweep. But what Elias and Hyde surely know as they progress through this offseason is that this alone will not fix what ailed the bats in the second half. Those problems are too complex to be solved by only switching hitting coaches.

Coaches — the philosophies they espouse, the strategies they implement, the advice they give — matter and can make a difference. New pitching coaches Drew French and Mitch Plassmeyer might have done just that in 2024 as the club’s arms finished with MLB’s fifth-best ERA despite a rash of injuries.

It appears Borgschulte and Fuller did the same during most of their three years in Baltimore, overseeing an offense that went from MLB’s 20th best to its fourth best as an influx of young talent arrived. It also appeared throughout the second half that changes of some kind were looming in the offseason, and their departures were not a surprise.

“Hitting coach is a tough job because you’re never going to have 13 or whatever guys going at the same time,” Hyde said during his end-of-season news conference. “You’re going to have three guys going, you’re going to have three guys struggling, and you’re going to have six guys kind of in between, and it changes every three or four days.

“I think our guys do an amazing job of preparing our guys. I think they’re unbelievably likable. Guys love to hit with them in the cage. They’re incredibly prepared, they’re unbelievably positive, and they’re living and dying with every single one of our guys’ at-bats. That’s all you can ask for.”

But the importance and influence of hitting coaches shouldn’t be overstated. The players on the field, ultimately, are the ones who have to hit 100 mph fastballs and devastating sliders, and it’s up to them to make the necessary changes and improvements this offseason. Elias is the one who chooses the players, and he has the ability this winter to make meaningful additions to the roster. David Rubenstein is the one who pays them, and he has the chance to give Elias the financial fortitude to compete in the open market.

Those people — the hitters, the GM, the owner — are more in control of fixing what went wrong in the second half than whoever the new hitting coaches are next season.

“The main theme that’s pretty evident from this season regardless of the cause is that the offensive side of the team was not there to the degree that I expected in the second half,” Elias said. “A lot of my moves and concerns had been toward the pitching side. That sort of ended up not being our shortcoming in the second half or in October, so that’s on me, but we’re going to take some time to look at things professionally, talk to everyone in the [B&O] Warehouse, every bit of information that we can and come up with a plan to not have this happen again.”

Much of the offense’s struggles in the second half can be attributed to regression. The Orioles were the best team with runners in scoring position in 2023, a year in which they didn’t suffer a single consequential injury on offense. In 2024, they regressed in both areas, performing worse in high-leverage situations and dealing with crippling injuries in the second half.

However, that doesn’t mean Elias and company should (or will) just throw their hands up and hope they get luckier in 2025. Inside what happened in 2024 are lessons to be learned and things to fix. But there isn’t a silver bullet.

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 667-942-3337 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.