Mariners dismiss bench coach and offensive coordinator Brant Brown

May 31, 2024
4 mins read
Mariners dismiss bench coach and offensive coordinator Brant Brown



Despite being in charge of the AL West, the Seattle Mariners fired bench coach and offensive coordinator Brant Brown on Friday, the team announced. Hitting coach and director of hitting strategy Jarret DeHart and assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph will expand their roles. No other changes to the coaching staff are being made.

“We know we’re capable of so much more,” head coach Scott Servais said of the team’s offense on Friday (via Seattle Times).

The Mariners lead the division and have taken three of four from the Houston Astros earlier this week, although they have scored just nine runs in four games and never more than four runs in a single game. Seattle has been one of the worst offensive teams in baseball this season.

Here’s how the Mariners rank among the 30 clubs:

Races per game

3.64

29th

4.31

Batting Average

.221

28th

0.240

Percentage on base

0.295

27th

0.310

Percentage of hits

0.361

25th

0.387

OPS+

93

24th

100

Elimination Rate

28.3%

30th

22.4%

OPS+, which adjusts the estimate and other factors, says the Mariners are 7% below league average offensively. They also have the highest strikeout rate in the league, although reducing strikeouts seemed to be a goal during the winter. Seattle ditched all of its high-strike hitters and brought in players with higher contact rates and is somehow hitting more.

Perhaps most concerning is franchise star Julio Rodríguez, who boasts a .268/.310/.342 batting line that has been boosted by a 10-for-25 (.400) performance in his last six games. Rodríguez finished fourth in AL MVP voting last year and authored a .279/.338/.496 line with 60 home runs and 62 steals in 2022-23. Getting him back on track should be the Mariners’ No. 1 priority.

Seattle hired Brown this past offseason for the newly created offensive coordinator position. He had previously been a hitting coach for the Miami Marlins. Brown’s focus was more on the mental side of the game and the team’s overall approach. DeHart and Joseph worked with hitters on things like swing mechanics.

The Mariners will move forward without a bench coach, which is unusual but not unheard of. The first-place Milwaukee Brewers do not have a traditional bench coach, instead employing Rickie Weeks as an associate manager. The San Diego Padres have several assistants and coordinators rather than a bench coach.

Seattle enters play on Friday with a 31-27 record and a three-game lead over the Texas Rangers in the AL West. The Mariners have been getting carried away with their pitching, especially their rotation. They are allowing just 3.76 runs per game, the fifth-fewest in baseball.





tatuagem pai e mãe masculino

facebook png

blog do marco silva

casa em l

bomba de aquário

absolutamente

globo o melhor conteúdo