Insanity, innovation, fighting fires: How Brian Sweeney became Royals’ pitching coach
Kansas City Royals new pitching coach Brian Sweeney sat down for a video conference call, a map of the United States on the wall behind him and a pager on the desk in front of him within arm’s reach.
That background, both literal and figurative, provided a window into the man to whom the Royals have entrusted their pitching staff.
The Royals announced Sweeney as the new pitching coach on Thursday morning.
The former bullpen coach for the Cleveland Guardians, Sweeney will head a “team” of pitching coaches and support staff for the Royals, including an assistant coach and a bullpen coach — the next two hires on the Royals’ agenda as they fill out new manager Matt Quataro’s coaching staff.
“At the end of the day, we’re really happy that we settled on Brian and Brian was accepting of the position,” Royals executive vice president and general manager J.J. Picollo said. “He’s got a great track record with what he’s done in Cleveland in the major leagues as the bullpen coach, first as the assistant pitching coach, but then also when he was in Philadelphia.”
Five candidates went through the initial interview process for the position, according to Picollo.
Sweeney, 48, pitched in parts of four seasons in the major leagues for the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres, but his life as a professional pitcher included stints in unaffiliated independent leagues and the minor leagues, plus three years overseas in Japan.
He has also pitched and coached for Team Italy as part of the World Baseball Classic.
As of Thursday, Sweeney remained the pitching coach for Team Italy under manager Mike Piazza. He was in Italy when he received the call from the Royals about the pitching coach position.
So the U.S. map was only a small piece of his profile as an international man of mystery. He played professionally in five countries.
Meanwhile, the pager allows him to react in a moment’s notice as he still serves as a volunteer firefighter in his hometown about a half hour outside of Albany, N.Y.
The son of a 35-year member of the Fire Department in Yonkers, N.Y., Sweeney long ago recognized a commonality between the power of a team coming together for a collective cause in a firehouse and a team coming together in a baseball clubhouse.
“I’m pretty lucky to see both ends of the spectrum,” Sweeney said.
Insanity and innovation
Despite being an undrafted right-hander from Division II Mercy College who had to go the independent ball route and spent many winters playing in foreign countries, Sweeney had a professional career that spanned the globe and lasted 18 years.
What allowed him to do that?
“Insanity maybe,” Sweeney quipped.
Joking aside, Sweeney quickly pivoted in his answer to his support system, specifically his wife Connie and daughters Ava and Mia.
They allowed him to chase what was in his heart, and he continued to do everything in his power to play baseball.
He didn’t break into the majors until he was 29.
While talking about his desire to keep playing, Sweeney referenced the traits that likely made him a strong coaching candidate.
“I was always looking for an edge,” Sweeney said. “Whether it was nutrition, working out in the weight room, some sort of modality in the training room, in my last years — ‘12 into ‘13 — is when I picked up a plyo ball and said, ‘I have to figure this out. I have to get better if I want to stay in this game.’”
As a player, he was open and willing to experiment with new things to search for advantages through innovation.
His time in the Cleveland Guardians organization on manager Terry Francona’s staff and working with pitching coach Carl Willis fostered a similar approach as a coach.
Analytics hadn’t been at the forefront during Sweeney’s time as a coach in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system, but he got a completely different experience in Cleveland. Sweeney credits his time there for allowing him to “grow” and make mistakes as he learned in his role as an assistant pitching coach.
“I was able to go to the other end of the spectrum and understand what data and innovation can do and how it can help players,” Sweeney said. “And it really formed a lot of my philosophies.”
Sweeney said a core piece of that philosophy will be to “partner” with players to build individualized plans that work for each pitcher.
Years of familiarity
Sweeney actually first met Quatraro back in the late 1990s when both were still players training in the Capital Region of New York around Albany. The two are only a year apart in age.
Sweeney, a minor-league pitcher, and Quatraro, a minor-league catcher, actually played catch as part of their offseason preparation.
While both coached in Cleveland under Francona, they did not overlap as members of the staff there. Quatraro joined the Tampa Bay Rays staff after the 2017 season, while Sweeney joined Cleveland’s staff in 2018.
Picollo said the Royals scouting and front office staff had been aware of Sweeney as a coach in the Phillies farm system.
Tom McNamara, the Royals special assistant to the GM, also had a history with Sweeney. McNamara served as an executive in the Mariners front office when they signed Sweeney. McNamara had been a proponent of Sweeney for the pitching coach position.
This story was originally published December 1, 2022 at 6:44 PM.
