Mariners part ways with offensive coordinator Brant Brown

Seattle, which ranks towards the bottom in most offensive categories in baseball, makes a personnel change

In a surprising move today, the Mariners announced that they are parting ways with offensive coordinator Brant Brown. Despite holding first place in the AL West, the Mariners rank towards the bottom in baseball as a team in most offensive categories, including fWAR (23rd), wRC+ (24th), AVG (28th), OBP (27th), and SLG (25th). Most glaringly, as has been remarked upon often, they lead the league in strikeout percentage at an eye-wateringly bad 28.3% despite stating this off-season that their main goal was to improve contact and cut down on strikeouts.

Brown came back to the Mariners in December of 2023 after acting as Offensive Coordinator in Mariners player development in 2017. From the Mariners, he moved on to the Dodgers and spent five years there, then the Miami Marlins, before taking the role of Bench Coach and Offensive Coordinator with the Mariners.

Brown’s offensive approach was slightly different than the Mariners’ “dominate the zone” approach has been in years past; back in January on the Hot Stove Show, Brown spoke about how hitters can expand the zone occasionally, if the expansion is to a hitter’s strength. The focus was on individualizing what a hitter’s “go zone” is, and attacking pitches in that zone while leaving others be. That’s what the square shaped hand signal some of the hitters make after they reach references: the box is the “go zone.”

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However, as much as players seemed to embrace that mentality, the results were not bearing out on the field consistently. A strong night of hitting would be followed by the bats going silent. That might be best exemplified over this past long roadtrip, where, after showing some promise at home, the Mariners’ bats went cold on the road, as they struggled against the powerhouses of the AL East but also scuffled against the Nationals, dropping that series.

“Unfortunately, our collective production as an offense led to this decision,” said Mitch Haniger. “And all of us don’t feel too great about that. And Brownie’s not the one to blame for that, it’s not his fault.”

“He really understood the importance of game planning, the importance of swing mechanics. For me he was a pleasure to work with because he really understood all the different aspects of hitting and what can go into it. And he can relate to guys who are struggling, having been in the box before, you know, playing at the big league level. I really enjoyed working with Brown.”

“So we’re all just trying to get our stuff together and move on.”

Haniger did acknowledge that the hitters feel like they haven’t done what they’re capable of doing—“and that’s kind of crazy when it’s like, all nine guys, or all 12 guys.” Most recently, the Mariners took three of four against the Astros this past series, gritting out a comeback win, a one-run win, and a walkoff win, but again showed inconsistency, getting shut out yesterday by rookie Spencer Arrighetti. Scott Servais expressed disappointment postgame in his team’s lack of ability to make adjustments, pointing out that Arrighetti had gone first-strike breaking ball to many hitters while the hitters were looking fastball, putting them in an early hole.

This isn’t the first time Servais has expressed discontent with the team’s offensive approach. Back in mid-April, with the team looking like they were making an offensive turnaround that would hopefully stick, Servais pointed out that one of the things he thought helped the team was “getting off the iPads”—a quote that garnered significant attention at the time, but looks a little different in light of Servais’s comments yesterday.

“You take all that information and you put together a game plan, and it’s up to our guys to try to execute it. Some nights it works perfectly; other nights it doesn’t, because the guy is landing his breaking ball or he’s more effective locating his fastball to a certain side of the plate. So you can have the greatest plan in the world, but you have to watch the game. I think the thing that’s been really helpful for us the last couple nights is we’ve made a concerted effort to get off the iPads in the dugout.” - Scott Servais, 4/17/24

Servais, who was teammates with Brown on the Cubs from 1996-1998, called today “a tough day for me personally,” but said at the end of the day, they have to do what’s best for the team and the players, and that’s getting players to play more like they have over their careers.

“We’re going to make a change there, get a different voice with our players. We really need to get our guys focused back into doing what they do best. That’s coaching. How do you get the most out of your guys?”

The Mariners won’t be replacing Brown with an outside hire, at least not yet; Director of Hitting Strategy Jarret DeHart and Assistant Hitting Coach Tommy Joseph will both see an expansion in their roles in working with the hitters.

“They have a clear understanding of what we value,” said Servais, “and they also have an understanding of what’s the best version of each of our players.”

In addition to DeHart and Joseph, the Mariners will also add from one of their hitting coordinators in the organization as “another pair of hands,” per Servais.

“It’s nothing to do with Brownie, his work ethic, what he was able to put together for our guys,” said Servais. “We’ll have a lot of the same information that’ll be there like it always has been. It’s just a matter of how we message that information and making sure that it sinks in with all the guys.”

“I just thought the combination of Brant, and Jarret DeHart, with Tommy, was going to be awesome, and really come together and take this offensive group to another level.”

“It didn’t happen, so we’re going to make adjustments.”