The Marlins have hired Brant Brown as their new hitting coach, as per SportsGrid’s Craig Mish (Twitter link). Brown was one of the Dodgers’ two hitting coaches, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter) reported earlier today that Miami was looking at Brown as the newest member of its staff.
Under new manager Skip Schumaker, the Marlins’ coaching staff will naturally look quite different in 2023. Brown replaces Marcus Thames (who was hired by the Angels) in the hitting coach position, while Luis Urueta is the new bench coach, Jon Jay is the new first base coach, Jody Reed is the new third base coach, and Rod Barajas is joining the staff as a quality assurance coach. Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. is staying put, after signing a new multi-year deal back in October.
This isn’t Brown’s first time in a Marlins uniform, as he played 41 games for the Fish back in 2000. Brown played at the MLB level with the Marlins, Pirates, and (mostly) Cubs over five seasons, and then began his coaching career in 2007. After a decade as a coach in the Rangers’ and Mariners’ farm system, Brown’s first MLB coaching assignment came prior to the 2018 season, when he joined the Dodgers as an assistant hitting coach. While some of the specifics of Brown’s title have changed, he and Robert Van Scoyoc have shared the hitting coach duties since 2019.
A powerful and versatile lineup has been one of the keys to the Dodgers’ recent success, but the 51-year-old Brown will now face a new challenge in trying to jumpstart Miami’s lineup. The Marlins have one of baseball’s more enviable cores of young pitching, yet the team has been unable to pair that pitching with even average offense. The additions of Jorge Soler, Avisail Garcia, Jacob Stallings, and Joey Wendle last offseason didn’t help matters, and the Marlins are now hoping to have more of a focus on speed and contact hitting heading into 2023.
It remains to be seen how the Dodgers will replace Brown on the coaching staff, but Rosenthal cites assistant coach Aaron Bates as a logical candidate for a promotion, if L.A. sticks to the dual-hitting coach approach. Bates has been the Dodgers’ assistant hitting coach for the last four seasons, and previously worked as a coach and coordinator from 2015-18 in the Dodgers’ minor league system.
Part of another lopsided Pirates trade
Jon Lieber for Brant Brown
Ugh
Josh Harrison and Kevin Hart (injuries destroyed what would have been a decent starter) for 2 forgettable relievers. It goes both ways when dealing with the Cubs.
Good luck Brown.
1998 version of Brown was fun to watch, sucks that most people remember him from the dropped flyball against the Brewers late in the season that ended up having no real impact on the Cubs season.
He dropped the ball…. NNNOOOOOOO! To this day, the most emotion showed by a radio announcer mid game.
I remember that call! It was one of the greatest calls for a Cubs game. Santo was going nuts!
You beat me to it.
It was cubbie blue bleeding Ron Santo and it ended the game
At the time it totally had an impact on the season. The Cubs were tied with the Mets in the Wild Card chase with less than a handful of games left in the season. That’s the year the Cubs beat the Giants in #163 to finally advance. The dropped fly ball gave me, Santo (oh NOoOOo!!) and a million other Cubs fans a heart attack. Glad the team bounced back to win the WC though.
Jody Reed, there’s a name i haven’t heard in a long time. I remember Reed with the Red Sox and then with the Dodgers where after the 1993 season he turned down a 3 year $7.8 million dollar contract and wound up having to settle for a one year $350k plus incentives contract with the Brewers for the ’94 season
Dodgers had 2 hitting coaches and an assistant hitting coach?
Quite a few.
Like the Field Staff the Marlins are putting together, taking experienced players and coaches from winning organizations like the Cardinals, Dodgers and Red Sox…I especially love the hire of Schumaker, who has learned from some of the best baseball minds…
With Kim Ng at the helm she knows this guy quite well.
As Ng is well-respected baseball executive, she no doubt knows of Brown. But it doesn’t appear that they’ve worked together in previous organizations. Ng left LAD in 2011.
I love the coaching hires Marlins made. Lots of backgrounds from different organizations.
Well-stocked coaching staff, now they just need decent players.
Having heard his name since he botched at flyball vs the Brewers. Long before Miller Park break ground. I also got his and Mickey Morandini autographs at a Kmart.
“Ohhh nooooooo!
– Ron Santo
Marlins have coaches and office people nearly all in place for the the Winter Meetings. I like that. Now Ng needs to show that she can actually make moves that impact positively more often than she has so far. We need less hit-or-miss moves and have more hits than misses.