Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced Wednesday that the club has promoted Brian De Lunas to Director of Pitching Development & Strategies, and promoted Cody Buckel to Pitching Strategist.
Jim Brower, who was the Mariners Assistant Coach in 2018, will shift to Bullpen Coach next season.
De Lunas spent the 2018 season as the Mariners bullpen coach, while Buckel served as the club's organizational pitching coach last season.
"In his new role, Brian will spearhead our efforts to optimize pitching development and performance," Dipoto said. "He will work with pitchers, pitching coaches and analysts both in Seattle and throughout our Player Development system. Additionally, Brian will provide guidance in all areas of pitcher evaluation and acquisition. Cody will assist Brian in this area, with an emphasis on technology and maximizing pitch development at the minor league levels."
De Lunas joined the Mariners prior to the 2018 season after serving as the Director of Pitching Development for CSE Baseball in St. Louis, MO. While with CSE, he worked with Major League, Minor League and collegiate pitchers of all levels, focusing on development and preparation, mindset and performance. Prior to CSE Talent, De Lunas was the Co-Founder and Program Director for Premier Pitching and Performance (P3). P3 incorporated the services of a physical therapist and a massage therapist, used a markerless 3D biomechanical system for analysis, as well as several technologies to offer one of the most comprehensive pitching programs in the country.
De Lunas has also served as a pitching coach at the high school level, the junior college level, the University of Missouri (2006-09) and in the Northwoods League. Pitchers he coached at the University of Missouri who went on to be drafted included Max Scherzer (1st round, 2006), Aaron Crow (1st round, 2008), Kyle Gibson (1st round, 2009), Nathan Culp (4th round, 2006), Rick Zagone (6th round, 2008), Nick Tepesch (14th round, 2010) and Tyler Clark (24th round, 2010). He also coached former Mariner David Phelps, as well as pitchers Chris Sale, Jake Ordorizzi and many others.
Buckel marked his 1st season in the Mariners organization in 2018 as the club's organizational pitching coach. He retired from playing professional baseball following the 2017 season, having spent parts of 8 minor league seasons with the Rangers (2010-16) and Angels (2017). The native of Thousand Oaks, CA, was originally selected by Texas in the 2nd round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Royal High School (Simi Valley, CA).