SF Giants hire former Reds manager Bryce Price as pitching coach

The SF Giants officially announced on Tuesday that former Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price has been hired as the team's pitching coach.

Marc Delucchi | Nov 14, 2023

SF Giants hire former Reds manager Bryce Price as pitching coach /

In this story:

San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants announced on Tuesday that the team has hired Bryan Price as pitching coach. Price has been tied to the Giants staff throughout the offseason, but it was unclear what his role would look like. With incumbent pitching coach Andrew Bailey a candidate for jobs with three different teams in the American League East, the Giants appear to have moved on. While it's possible that Bailey could return as the director of pitching, that seems unlikely. In their announcement, San Francisco also confirmed a report on Monday that Garvin Alston will be the bullpen coach.

Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price in the dugout during the sixth inning against the SF Giants at Great American Ball Park. (2016) — Reds manager Bryan Price in the dugout during a game against the SF Giants. (2016) / David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Price, like manager Bob Melvin, is a Bay Area native. Born in San Francisco, Price attended Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley and played college baseball at Cal before he was drafted in the eighth round of the 1984 MLB Draft by the California Angels. Price never played in the major leagues, retiring after five minor league seasons.

Since hanging up his cleats, Price has been one of the most well-regarded pitching coaches in the league for the past twenty years. Price was first a MLB pitching coach with the Seattle Mariners from 2001-2006, working under Melvin for a portion of his tenure. He reunited with Melvin as the Diamondbacks pitching coach from 2007-2009, resigning when Arizona fired Melvin.

Price soon became the top pitching coach with the Cincinnati Reds, a position he held from 2010-2013 before he was promoted to manager, replacing Dusty Baker. Price was the Reds manager for five seasons, and was unable to have the same success he had as an assistant coach. He struggled to a 279-387 record and never reached the postseason.

Fired by the Reds at the end of the 2018 season, Price spent one season as the Phillies pitching coach before deciding to step away from full-time coaching. After a couple of seasons off, he returned to coaching as a senior advisor to the Padres coaching staff, where he once again worked with Melvin. Now, it seems, Bryan Price feels ready to return to a full-time role as the SF Giants pitching coach.

Published Nov 14, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).