Orioles Announce 2025 Chesapeake Baysox Coaching Staff

Bowie, MD – January 24, 2025 - The Baltimore Orioles and Chesapeake Baysox have announced the coaching staff for the 2025 season, highlighted by returning manager Roberto Mercado.

This season will be the second for Mercado as the Baysox skipper. He was named the 17th manager in Baysox franchise history in 2024 – his first year at the Double-A level. Mercado’s squad posted a 62-75 record last season, where his staff oversaw 18 promotions to Triple-A and two players who made their major league debuts in 2024. Mercado most recently managed in the Arizona Fall League this past offseason, where he led the Surprise Saguaros to a league-best 18-10 record and a Fall League Championship Game appearance. He also managed the American League squad in the 2024 Fall Stars Game.

Prior to joining the Baysox staff, Mercado spent two seasons as manager of the Orioles’ High-A affiliate - the Aberdeen IronBirds. There, he led Aberdeen to a 147-120 record, including an appearance in the South Atlantic League championship series in 2022. Mercado was also honored with the Orioles organization’s Cal Ripken, Sr. Player Development Award in 2022.

Prior to the start of his professional career with the IronBirds, Mercado spent 17 years on the coaching staff at New Britain High School in Connecticut. He began as an assistant coach in 2004 before being promoted to head varsity coach in 2011. Mercado helped lead New Britain to its first three conference championships since 1984. In addition to coaching the New Britain baseball team, Mercado served as the Dean of Students for over 18 years. He also spent time as an assistant coach of the Yarmouth Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod Baseball League from 2014-2022 and was a coach in the Goodwill Series, where high school baseball players from the United States competed overseas in both Australia and New Zealand, in 2017 and 2018.

The Baysox also welcome back three additional members of their 2024 coaching staff in 2025. Josh Bunselmeyer returns as the Hitting Coach, Chase Sebby is back as the Fundamentals Coach, and Julio Ibarra will be the team’s Athletic Trainer.

2025 will be Bunselmeyer’s sixth season in the Orioles’ system. He joined the Baysox as hitting coach in 2024, after filling the same role for the Orioles’ Single-A affiliate, the Delmarva Shorebirds, in 2023. He spent the previous three campaigns as a hitting coach in both the Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League. He played three seasons in the Independent Frontier League following a collegiate playing career at Saint Louis University.

Sebby has been a fundamentals coach across the Orioles’ system for three seasons now, after spending last year with the Baysox and the 2023 campaign in Aberdeen. Prior to that, he was a development coach within the Orioles’ organization in 2022. Sebby played collegiately as a catcher at Cypress College and Ball State.

Much like Bunselmeyer, Ibarra is poised to begin his sixth season in the Orioles’ organization this year. 2025 is Ibarra’s second campaign with the Baysox after spending two seasons as Head Athletic Trainer in Delmarva and as an Athletic Trainer in the Dominican Summer League.

Among newcomers, Jordie Henry joins the Baysox as their Pitching Coach in 2025. Henry served as the pitching coach with Aberdeen last season, where the IronBirds’ staff tallied 1,357 strikeouts – second-most in the South Atlantic League and second-most in IronBirds franchise history. Henry also helped lead the IronBirds to their third no-hitter in franchise history in July. Henry is set to begin his third season as a member of the Orioles’ system. He spent 2023 as a pitching coach in the Florida Complex League. Prior to his first season in the organization, Henry was the Director of Pitching at Prime Sports Performance in Baltimore – a private athletic development training facility. Henry has also worked as a pitching coach and instructor at the high school and summer collegiate levels, in addition to spending a year instructing in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas. Henry pitched collegiately for four seasons at Wayland Baptist University.

Strength and Conditioning Coach Chris Frosch joins Henry in making the jump from High-A Aberdeen. Frosch spent each of the past two seasons as the Strength and Conditioning Coach with the IronBirds and joined his manager, Mercado, in the 2024 Arizona Fall League. 2025 will be the fourth season Frosch has spent in the Orioles’ organization following a two-year stint with the Chicago Cubs in the same role. Frosch also spent a year on the strength and conditioning staff at the collegiate level at both Texas Christian and Florida State University. Frosch played baseball at the University of Tampa, where he studied Human Performance.

Calvin Christiansen rounds out the staff as the Baysox Development Coach in 2025. Christiansen joins from the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds after spending two seasons prior as a Minor League Technology Coordinator. Christiansen is a 2019 graduate of the University of California, Davis.

The Baysox open the 2025 season on Friday, April 4 on the road against the Altoona Curve. Chesapeake’s home opener at Prince George’s Stadium is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8 against the Erie SeaWolves, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. Ticket plans and group offers for the 2025 season are currently on sale. For more information on our schedule, tickets, and the latest team news, fans can call us at (301)805-6000, visit us online at Baysox.com, or follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

The Chesapeake Baysox are the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and play in the Double-A Eastern League. The team plays their home games at Prince George’s Stadium in Bowie, Maryland. For more information, please call (301)805-6000 or visit us online at Baysox.com.