The Seattle Mariners coaching changeups continue, with the team hiring Hall of Fame third baseman and designated hitter Edgar Martinez as their hitting coach for the rest of the 2024 season. The team announced the news Friday, one day after firing general manager Scott Servais and replacing him with former Mariners catcher Dan Wilson.
Martinez, a seven-time All-Star and Mariners legend, has been involved with the team since his retirement in 2004. This will mark his second stint as a hitting coach in Seattle: Martinez previously held the job from 2015-2018 before choosing to scale back his role. He has continued in an advisory role since then.
Martinez will replace hitting coach Jarret DeHart, who was fired alongside Servais after a midseason slump dropped the Mariners from a ten-game division lead to a five-game deficit.
In the announcement, Wilson, an All-Star catcher who played with the Mariners from 1994-2005, called his former teammate “a great addition” to the team. Martinez, meanwhile, said that he was happy to help the team for the remainder of the season.
“When Dan reached out to me, I told him that I’d be happy to assist him this season in whatever way I could,” Martinez said in Friday’s statement. “I know the talent and work ethic this group of hitters has and I hope I can be of help to them.”
Martinez spent his entire 17-year career in Seattle, and remains a highly respected player in Mariners history. Martinez’s #11 is one of only three numbers retired by the Mariners, with the other two being Ken Griffey Jr.’s 24 and Jackie Robinson’s 42. Martinez also has a statue outside of the Mariners’ T-Mobile Stadium, while the street that runs past the stadium — Edgar Martinez Drive — was renamed in his honor in 2004. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019.
The 61-year-old coach will have a tall task ahead of him: Despite having several of the strongest starting pitchers in the league, the Mariners have one of the worst hitting records in the league. Seattle currently leads the league in strikeouts with 1,308 and have recorded the fewest hits (903) and lowest batting average (.216) in the league.
