Former Embattled Seattle Mariners Hitting Coach Lands Job with Prestigious Franchise
After getting fired by the Seattle Mariners at the end of May because of the team's offensive woes, embattled former M's hitting coach Brant Brown has received a new opportunity as the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.
The team announced the move on social media:
We have also hired Brant Brown as our new Hitting Coach.
Brown has been a Major League assistant coach for the past seven seasons, working with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins and Seattle Mariners. Brown worked alongside Jon Jay on the Marlins coaching staff in 2023.
We have also hired Brant Brown as our new Hitting Coach.
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 22, 2024
Brown has been a Major League assistant coach for the past seven seasons, working with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins and Seattle Mariners. Brown worked alongside Jon Jay on the Marlins coaching staff in 2023. pic.twitter.com/MNUak3cr8w
Brown was hired by the Mariners last offseason as the newly created "offensive coordinator" and came in with much fanfare, but it just didn't materialize as the M's wasted an excellent pitching staff for the first two months of the season.
At the time of his firing, M's hitters ranked last in baseball in strikeouts by a wide margin. They had fanned 594 times, which was 27 more than Oakland (567). In fairness to Brown, the team continued to slump after his firing. They also fired hitting coach Jared DeHart and manager Scott Servais in August. The offense did turn it around after that move, performing better under the Edgar Martinez and Dan Wilson regime. They still missed the playoffs by 1.0 game.
The 53-year-old Brown had previously worked in the Mariners organization at the minor league level and also helped take the Miami Marlins to the playoffs as hitting coach in 2023. He also played parts of five seasons in the big leagues with the Cubs, Pirates, and Marlins. He was a lifetime .247 hitter who hit 45 career home runs.
The Cardinals finished tied for second in the National League Central last year.
Follow Inside the Mariners on social media
Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on "X" @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady. You can subscribe to the "Refuse to Lose" podcast by clicking HERE:
