Mariners relieve bench coach Brant Brown of his duties

SEATTLE -- The Mariners on Friday announced that they have parted ways with offensive coordinator and bench coach Brant Brown.

The Mariners also announced that director of hitting strategy Jarret DeHart and assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph will expand on their roles with the hitters. Mariners manager Scott Servais said that the club will internally “add another set of hands” to back-fill Brown's role in the near future.

“We've got people within the organization; some of them have Major League experience,” Servais said. “They can come up and work -- hitting coordinators and different people that come through town to help out there.”

Brown was hired last winter for a newly created position with a specialty on the mental side, general approach and midgame adjustments, supplementing DeHart, whose focus centers more on mechanics and swings. During games, Brown also served as a bench coach to Servais, with whom he played in the big leagues in the late 1990s.

The move came as Seattle sits in first place in the American League West by three games but with an offense that ranks among the Majors’ least productive.

The Mariners entered Friday with the second-fewest runs (211, or 3.6 per game) in the Majors. They lead in strikeouts (567) and rank 28th in batting average (.221), 27th in on-base percentage (.295), 25th in slugging percentage (.361) and 28th in OPS (.656).

“We have not reached anywhere close to what our potential is yet,” Servais said. “So I'm looking forward to what lies ahead. It doesn't make this day any easier. No question, it is very difficult.”

The lack of offensive production contrasts the Mariners' elite pitching staff, which has lived up to its lofty billing and has been one of the best in the Majors.

“Unfortunately, our collective production as an offense kind of led to this decision, and all of us don’t feel too great about that,” said Mitch Haniger, who was close with Brown and worked with him during his first stint with the organization in 2017, when Brown worked on the Minor League side.

“Brownie is not the one to blame for that. It's not his fault. So as far as other reasonings, I have no idea. But we're just trying to get our stuff together and move on. We all really enjoyed working with him. Very professional, and a great hitting coach.”

Brown was known for his unorthodox methods of messaging, a large part of why he was a coveted hire. But there were times where his pregame meetings became complex for some players.

“Everybody has their own style of coaching, and that's what makes coaches special,” Servais said. “But, ultimately, you do have to connect with the players that you have. ... You have to produce. It's the do-good league. And, ultimately, we've just got to get more out of this group.”

This marks the first time since Servais and Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto took over after the 2015 season that a hitting coach was let go midseason. The last time was earlier that year, when Howard Johnson was fired and replaced by Mariners icon and Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez.

Brown was highly touted by Servais and Seattle’s front office after clearing multiple interviews last November. He jumped on the Mariners’ radar shortly after then-bullpen coach Stephen Vogt took the Guardians’ managerial position on Nov. 6. Had he stayed, Vogt would’ve been promoted to a bench coach role in Seattle, two years removed from his playing career.

At that time, Seattle’s front office went through an aggressive offseason reimagining its strikeout-prone and boom-or-bust offense.

Brown had great success helping the Marlins reach the postseason in 2023 in his lone year as hitting coach. Prior to that, he was esteemed for his role with the Dodgers as assistant hitting coach (2018-19) and then hitting coach (2020-22).

Brown’s ties to the Mariners go way back to 2012-17, when he served as the club’s Minor League outfield coordinator (2012-16) and the offensive coordinator in the player development system (2017).