The coaching changes continue for the Seattle Mariners, with the team hiring Hall of Fame third baseman and designated hitter Edgar Martinez as their hitting coach for the remainder of the 2024 season. The team announced the news Friday, a 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 retiring in 2004. This will be his second stint as hitting coach in Seattle: Martinez previously held the position from 2015-18 before opting to scale back his role. He has continued to play an advisory role since then.
Martinez will replace hitting coach Jarret DeHart, who was fired along with Servais after a midseason slump sent the Mariners from a 10-game lead in the division 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 “tremendous addition” to the team. Martinez, meanwhile, said he was happy to help the team for the remainder of the season.
“When Dan reached out to me, I told him I would be happy to help him this season in any way I could,” Martinez said in Friday’s release. “I know the talent and work ethic of this group of hitters and I hope I can be of service to them.”
Martinez spent his entire 17-year career in Seattle and remains a highly respected player in Mariners history. Martinez’s No. 11 is one of only three numbers retired by the Mariners, the other two being Ken Griffey Jr.’s No. 24 and Jackie Robinson’s No. 42. Martinez also has a statue outside 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 tough task ahead: Despite having several of the league’s best starting pitchers, the Mariners have one of the league’s worst batting records. Seattle currently leads the league in strikeouts with 1,308 and has the fewest hits (903) and lowest batting average (.216) in the league.