Mariners fire offensive coordinator Brant Brown

A dreadful two-month showing from the Mariners’ revamped lineup has cost Brant Brown his job.

The Mariners, who have objectively one of the least-productive lineups in MLB, fired the first-year offensive coordinator and bench coach Friday, the club announced.

“Unfortunately, our collective production as an offense kind of led to this decision,” veteran outfielder Mitch Haniger said. “And all of us don’t feel too great about that. Brownie’s 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.”

Brown was hired last winter under the newly created title of offensive coordinator in hopes of providing a spark to a lineup that set a franchise record in 2023 with a 25.9% strikeout rate, second-worst in MLB.

Instead, the lineup has, by and large, been even worse through the first two months of this season, ranking No. 1 in MLB with a 28.3% strikeout rate, one of the highest rates in league history.

The Mariners are averaging just 3.6 runs per game; among all MLB teams, only the Chicago White Sox have scored fewer.

“We know we are capable of so much more,” manager Scott Servais said.

It’s the first time during the Jerry Dipoto/Servais era that the Mariners have fired a hitting coach midway through a season.

The last time the organization made such a move was in June 2015, when Mariners legend Edgar Martinez replaced the fired Howard Johnson as hitting coach. Dipoto was hired to lead the club’s baseball operations a few months later.

“This team has a chance to have a really special season, and I talked about that way back when we started,” said Servais, in his ninth season as manager. “I still feel that way, knowing we have not even scratched the surface of what we can do offensively. There’s a lot of good times ahead. Sometimes you have to go through pain, and certainly today is one of those days.”

Jarret DeHart, who holds the title of director of hitting strategy, and assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph will take on expanded roles, the team announced.

The Mariners (31-27) enter Friday’s series against the Los Angeles Angels in first pace in the AL West thanks in large part to a pitching staff that ranks among the best in the majors.

The Mariners managed to win a series over the rival Houston Astros this week, winning three of four games despite scoring just nine runs in the four-game series.

On Thursday the Mariners were held to four hits in a 4-0 loss to Astros rookie starter Spencer Arrighetti, who entered the game with a 6.93 ERA in his first eight starts.

Brown, 52, was a teammate of Servais’ with the Cubs in the 1990s, and he previously served as a major-league hitting coach with the Miami Marlins (2023) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2018-22).

He spent six seasons working as a coordinator in the Mariners player development system, from 2012-17.