Mariners make major shake-up in attempt to revive struggling offense

Despite being 32-27 and in first place in the American League West, the Seattle Mariners aren't satisfied, specifically with their hitting production (or lack thereof). So, the club took matters into their own hands on Friday, announcing a rather substantial organizational shake-up.

The Mariners have relieved bench coach Brant Brown of his duties, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

As Rosenthal points out, this was Brown's first season with Seattle -- the Mariners hired him less than six months ago. Albeit a difficult decision to make, the club will be going in a different direction moving forward.

Mariners fire bench coach Brant Brown in attempt to revive struggling offense

"Obviously, we've had some struggles on the offensive side, and it's not all [Brown's] fault, by any means," Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters regarding Brown's dismissal. "It's just, you know, we want to make a change there, maybe a little bit 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? That's what we're going to focus on here going forward," he added.

Seattle has been performing well in the 2024 MLB season, so the firing of Brown seems questionable. But they have been winning in large part because of their top-end pitching staff. The Mariners rank first in the majors in cumulative WHIP (1.073) and ninth in ERA (3.59).

Seattle hasn't only succeeded due to their pitching -- they've done so in spite of their hitting woes. The Mariners are 29th in runs per game (3.66), 28th in hits (7.20), 27th in batting average (.221), 27th in on-base percentage (.296) and 24th in slugging percentage (.364). Moreover, they are on pace to break the record for most strikeouts in a single season, racking up 599 total whiffs across 59 games.

While this doesn't necessarily solve Seattle's hitting problems, it shows they are at least trying to rectify the matter. The Mariners revealed that director of hitting strategy Jarret DeHart and assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph "will expand on their roles with the hitters," per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.

Overall, it is hard to envision the Mariners faring any worse from the plate than they already have. So, they should only improve from that perspective, whether Brown was in the picture or not. Right? Only time will tell at the end of the day.