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Brown, 53, recently served as Bench Coach and Offensive Coordinator with the Seattle Mariners for part of the 2024 season, following a stint as Hitting Coach for the Miami Marlins in 2023. Brown previously held the positions of Los Angeles Dodgers Assistant Hitting Coach (2020-22) and Minor League Hitting Strategist (2018-19), Mariners Minor League Offensive Coordinator (2017) and Outfield Coordinator (2013-16), and various coaching roles in the Texas Rangers minor leagues (2007-12).
The Porterville, Calif. native was drafted by the Cubs in the 3rd round of the 1992 MLB Draft and played parts of five seasons with the Cubs (1996-98, 2000), Pirates (1999), and Marlins (2000).
The Cardinals are obviously taking advantage of the gap between the LCS and the World Series to make their announcements and get some business taken care of.
Another #stlcards announcement, another quick take on two new coaches with recent ties to the Miami Marlins, Jon Jay and Brant Brown. (free) https://t.co/Mga4QD5z74 pic.twitter.com/iRAHzpen3p
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) October 22, 2024
“As noted above, Brown was hitting coach with the 2023 Marlins before moving to Seattle for 2024. Despite the Marlins’ offense ranking 26th in MLB in runs scored, the 84-win Fish squeaked into the 2023 post-season as a Wild Card. Brown was reportedly liked by the team’s hitters.
With the Mariners offense struggling out of the gates in 2024, Brown was fired by Seattle at the end of May. By August, manager Scott Servais, Brown’s former MLB teammate, and the Mariners’ hitting coach also felt the ax.”
Quote from Brian’s piece above. Seriously, WTF are they doing with this hire?
With two former Marlins now on board let’s go for the trifecta and name Skip Schumaker Manager in waiting. Hey we have a PBO in waiting so why not?
I vividly recall when this guy came up with the cubbies. He could uncork a long one on you every now and then. He played during an era when I knew something about EVERY player in all of baseball. Now days I may be flirting with the Mendoza Line in regards to player knowledge. If memory serves me correct, and it usually does, Brant played his first ML game vs the Padres, and also his last game vs San Diego. He has quite the job ahead of him here in St. Louis. At his age, I would imagine Brant realizes he’s at a crossroads in his coaching career. He needs to succeed this coming year or he may find himself coaching hitters at Pawtucket State in 2026.
This hire is hard to figure given all the times Brant Brown has been let go.
They see something in Brant, Mud……..hopefully not like they did with the likes of Greg Holland, Dexter Fowler, Brandon Moss and Zach Duke.
Are the Cardinals not seriously overscraping the bottom of the coaching barrel in their effort to appear to be doing something useful?
I guess you never know. I think if he was really a hitting guru, he would have has more success by now. I consider it all smoke and mirrors but im willing to give him a shot. May only be a one year hire though.
I guess they couldn’t find a good hitting coach given that Bloom will probably replace him next year when he assumes control of the front office, so they just got a placeholder.
This is NOT a serious franchise any longer. That was not in doubt, but this hitting coach hire proves it if you had any doubt. It saddens me to see this once proud franchise in such disarray with very little hope of being competitive for the foreseeable future.
Which is why you cut the cord and clean house. This half assed approach to their business is why they have this mess to begin with.
I think quite a few people who participate in discussions on this website have followed this team long enough to clearly recall exactly what the Cardinals did to reverse the misfortunes of the team during the last two extended periods of utter failure and futility. Both times the fortunes were immediately reversed by names that are now included in the baseball HOF. Neither one of those names were ever a hitting coach, an OF coach, or an assistant to the assistant of player development…You’ll know when the St. Louis, Cardinals are dedicated to placing a winning team on the field of play when they fire the current Cardinal manager and replace him with someone who has a track record that indicates that they are capable of doing the job.
We heard some good things Ryan Ludwick did with our AAA team, and I was hoping he would be elevated to the big club. Then again, maybe having him in the minors is better as far as getting guys to improve while they are still working on their game.
This guy certainly does not stand out as a difference maker, but not sure how much a hitting coach can do at the big league level. There are so many analytic tools, and video looks available that players pretty well know what they are doing. And if a guy has been round a few years he likely has a batting cage in the basement of his house.
It’s a lot different than the old days when a guy’s baseball card would have a cartoon on the back asking, “What does Charley do in the off season?” And it will show him hammering a nail into a board and the answer will say, “He works for a construction company building houses.”
Hebner was really a grave digger in the offseason? I knew he was a Cardinal killer! His career stat line versus the Trdbirds was .293/.372/.480/.852. Ugh!
I didn’t know he was a grave digger either, but Richie could hit. He hurt a lot of teams when a game was on the line and always seemed to come thru in big games with the outcome in the balance.
Great stuff. Almost forgot about Hebner’s off-season profession. One might think grave diggers could possibly also be gold diggers as well, as the profession could lend to taking quick peeks into coffins for goodies just prior to burial. But I’m sure Richie, although being a pirate, wouldn’t resort to that sort of low class thievery. San Diego slugger Nate Colbert was one of the best used car salesmen on the planet during his off seasons. It’s been said that once Nate landed you on a vehicle it was all over……you were driving off the lot with it. You know, what an interesting book that would be. Baseball, football and basketball players off season professions during the 20th century.
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