Hill worked the last six seasons with the Marlins and has served as a coach at the big league level for 23 years.
The Mariners moved closer to finalizing their 2019 coaching staff.
Tuesday afternoon, the organization finally announced what had been an expected and reported move — the hiring of Perry Hill to serve as the team’s first base and infield coach.
“Perry has long been considered among the finest coaches in MLB,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said. “Infield defense is his calling card, and he’s achieved consistently excellent results wherever he’s been. We’re all looking forward to watching him work.”
Chris Prieto, who served as first-base coach last season, will move to third-base coach, replacing Scott Brosius, who opted not to return to the organization. Seattle must still hire a hitting coach to replace Edgar Martinez, who transitioned to the role of organizational hitting instructor. Sources have said the Mariners are trying to finalize a deal with Tim Laker, the Diamondbacks assistant hitting coach, to fill that position.
Hill spent the previous six seasons with the Miami Marlins in the same role of first base and infield coach. In his professional career, he has coached Rawlings’ Gold Glove winners at all four infield positions, including current Mariners infielder Dee Gordon in 2015.
“I’ve talked to him twice and obviously have a relationship with him,” Hill said. “He was excited. He’s full of energy. He’s very coachable. And he’s very talented.”
The other winners were Luis Castillo (2B, Florida, 2003-2005), Mike Lowell (3B, Florida, 2005), Derek Lee (1B, Florida, 2003) and Orlando Cabrera (SS, Montreal, 2001).
“Perry is one of the most respected infield coaches in the game,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I’m excited to add him to our coaching staff. He brings an impressive resume of having coached outstanding defensive seasons and Gold Glove winners.”
Hill has worked for 23 years as a coach at the major-league level and 32 years in professional baseball. In addition to Miami, Hill has been a coach with Texas (1992-94, 1995), Detroit (1997-99), Montreal (2000-2001) and Pittsburgh (2009).
“Your goal is to get 27 outs and you want to be able to make that routine play every time,” he said. “That ball three or four steps to your left or three or four steps to your right. Those have to be outs every single time.”
Hill believes in the Six F’s of fielding …
- Feet
- Field
- Funnel
- Footwork
- Fire
- Follow
And it’s something he’ll continue to teach going forward.
“That’s my blueprint,” he said. “That’s what I stress, that’s what I teach. That’s what I think a guy enables the plays I talk about. If you stick around a couple of fields during spring training, you’ll hear those being said.”