Brian Edward Sweeney (born June 13, 1974) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who is currently the pitching coach for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He played in MLB for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

and in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) for the

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional Baseball in Japan, baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō, in the Sapporo metropolitan area. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the major ...

, in addition to coaching for the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

Playing career

Sweeney graduated from

Archbishop Stepinac High School Archbishop Stepinac High School is an American Single-sex education, all-boys' Catholic Church, Roman Catholic high school in White Plains, New York. It was operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York until the 2009–2010 school yea ...

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

in 1992. He graduated from Mercy College in New York, where he was a starting pitcher. After making his major league debut with the

in , Sweeney moved to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

in and then signed with Japan's Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. He signed a minor league contract with the

and reported to Tacoma Rainiers on April 15, 2010. On June 15, 2010, he was called up to replace Ian Snell, who was designated for assignment. On November 3, 2010, Sweeney was claimed off waivers by the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

. Sweeney signed a minor league contract with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

on May 5, 2011. On January 27, 2012, he signed a minor league contract with the

. In 2013, he represented

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

at the

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC), also referred to as the Classic, is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), the sport's global governing body, and organized in World Baseball Clas ...

Coaching career

The

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

named Sweeney as pitching coach for their rookie league Gulf Coast League Phillies for the 2015 season. From 2016 to 2017, he was the pitching coach for their Single-A affiliate Lakewood BlueClaws. Sweeney was hired by the Indians as a major league coach on December 11, 2017. Sweeney was promoted to bullpen coach on October 31, 2019. On December 1, 2022, the

hired Sweeney as their pitching coach for the 2023 season. He has also been the pitching coach for Team Italy at the WBC in both 2017 and 2023.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Brian Living people 1974 births 2013 World Baseball Classic players Águilas del Zulia players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cardenales de Lara players Cleveland Indians coaches Durham Bulls players Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters players Lafayette Leopards players Lancaster JetHawks players Major League Baseball pitchers Mercy Mavericks baseball players Minor league baseball coaches Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New Haven Ravens players Portland Beavers players San Antonio Missions players San Diego Padres players Seattle Mariners players Somerset Patriots players Baseball players from Yonkers, New York Tacoma Rainiers players Archbishop Stepinac High School alumni Cleveland Guardians coaches