Did Brant Brown’s interview hint at problem with Mariners’ offense?

Aug 27, 2024, 12:16 PM | Updated: 12:41 pm

Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners swings through a pitch on Aug. 11, 2024 against the Mets. (Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)

(Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)

BY BRENT STECKER

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Mariners came into the 2024 MLB season with a new coach in a new role: Brant Brown as offensive coordinator.

Dan Wilson details how he became the new Mariners manager

As an assistant coach of the offensive side, Brown had a hand in some impressive offenses with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2017-22, and then as Miami Marlins hitting coach in 2023 oversaw a team that jumped to a .721 OPS from a .627 mark the season before.

Brown’s tenure with Seattle, however, didn’t last long. The Mariners let him go before the calendar even turned to June as the team struggled not only to score runs but to simply put the ball in play over the first two months of the year.

Brown was back in the spotlight a bit after the Mariners moved on from manager Scott Servais, who had been Brown’s teammate with the Cubs in the 1990s, last Thursday amid continued offensive struggles. Brown joined Foul Territory for a conversation the next day, but the overly-wordy way he communicated his offensive philosophy left some wondering if it explained some of the issues the M’s have had this year.

“We tried to manage the way he was attacked.”

Former @Mariners Offensive Coordinator Brant Brown reveals how the team coached Julio Rodríguez at the plate. pic.twitter.com/TpEcENfnWd

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) August 23, 2024

Count MLB Network analyst and former Mariners pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith in that camp.

“I listened to Brant Brown the other day. I’m sure he’s brilliant, but I’m sitting there listening to him talk – like, can you just answer the question, man?” Rowland-Smith told Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Monday. “It’s just word salad on hitting. And I get he’s trying to go to another level scientifically, but if that’s the message he’s giving to hitters, the way he was talking … If I’m a hitter and I have to listen to this, I’m sorry, man. Like, I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel here.

“He was talking about Julio (Rodríguez)… something about pitches in and pitches away. It’s like, no, no, why don’t we just say, ‘Hey, Julio, try and get your hands extended, bro,’ like it’s 1998. … That’s as simple as it is. See something out over the plate, let it rip.”

The adjustment to make?

When it comes to the state of the Mariners’ hitters, Rowland-Smith pointed to a couple interesting stats that together tell a troubling story.

“The Mariners (are seeing the) most pitches per plate appearance, yet they’re 30th when it comes to hitting with two strikes,” he said. “So something ain’t working when you simplify it like that.”

Even with the Mariners’ troubles on offense, they remain in the playoff race, entering Tuesday with a 67-65 record. That’s just 3 1/2 games back of the Houston Astros for the lead in the AL West and 5 1/2 back of the Minnesota Twins for the American League’s last wild card.

Rowland-Smith explained how a little tweak to simplify their approach could make a big difference in the standings.

“They’re (54-11) when they score four-plus runs in a game. And runs per game, they’re about (3.9). There’s 24 out of 30 teams that have a four-plus run per game average this year,” he said. “… You can see how close these margins are. It’s like alright, you can get a (3.9) and you strike out this much. … If you don’t have the talent or the success rate of getting your ‘A’ swing off with two strikes and you’re missing the pitch by three feet – and I get it, hitting’s hard – then you gotta start to change some things up in the way you think about pushing runners over, whatever it may be. And you are gonna run into that three-run home run. They hit plenty of home runs, this team.”

Hear the full Wyman and Bob conversation with MLB Network’s Ryan Rowland-Smith in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Catch Wyman and Bob starting at 2 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.