Seitzer, Magallanes Land Roles on Mariners Staff After Leaving Braves

Just over a month after being let go by the Atlanta Braves, the former members of the hitting staff were hired by the Seattle Mariners

The recently fired hitting coaches find new homes in Seattle / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Seattle Mariners have scooped up two hitting coaches recently let go by the Atlanta Braves. Kevin Seitzer has been hired as their hitting coach and Bobby Magallanes has been brought on as the assistant hitting coach. 

Both will report to Edgar Martinez - yes, that one - who is now serving over the entire hitting program in Seattle. 

Seitzer and Magallanes were dismissed by the Braves in mid-October as they look to shake things up following a lackluster season offensively. Both are taking on the same roles with the Mariners that they had with the Braves. 

They were let go as early as they were to give them time to find new roles, and they both managed to get the same roles while still together on the same team. 

The Braves have already re-filled their hitting staff roles. Tim Hyers was brough over from the Texas Rangers to serve as the new hitting coach. Hugh Quattlebaum and Carlos Méndez were hired as the new assistant coaches to serve under Hyers.

Seitzer was the hitting coach for the Braves from 2015 to 2024. Magallanes was the assistant hitting coach from 2021 to 2024. Both coaches were part of the Atlanta Braves staff that won the World Series in 2021. They also oversaw the Braves having the top offense in 2023.

In 2023, they led MLB in batting average (.276), on-base percentage (.344), slugging percentage (.501), OPS (.845), home runs (307) and total runs (914). They were the only team to hit 300 home runs or more and score 900 runs or more. 

Seitzer coached two National League MVPs during his tenure with the Braves: Freddie Freeman in 2020 and Ronald Acuna in 2023. He is also credited with the development of Braves' homegrown products such as outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., second baseman Ozzie Albies and shortstop Dansby Swanson. 

Despite the rough season sending these two coaches packing from Atlanta, they could be solid additions to the Mariners coaching staff. 

Seattles’ offense has been looking for a boost. They were second to last in batting average (.224), 25th in slugging percentage (.376) and 22nd in OPS (.687). While they were 12th in home runs (185), they didn’t rack up a lot of extra-base hits outside of that. They were 27th in doubles (228).