Braden Bishop will always be a Mariners favorite

The Seattle Mariners drafted Braden Bishop as the 94th overall pick in 2015 and although he didn’t turn out to be what the Mariners had hoped, there is a lot to like about him. As you may have heard, the San Francisco Giants claimed Braden Bishop off waivers yesterday so his time in Seattle has come to a close.

Braden Bishop grew in the bay area and his younger brother is a top prospect in the Giants organization so it’s a great fit. Maybe the 27-year-old outfielder can turn his career around as he heads home. That being said, I wanted to quickly reflect on why I was a fan of Braden Bishop and why every Mariners fan should say “thank you” to Braden.

The Mariners outfielder has played a huge role off the field

Braden Bishop isn’t only a professional baseball player. He is a charity founder, an advocate for social justice, a business owner, and recently became a father! The former Mariners outfielder started 4MOM after learning that his mother had Alzheimer’s. Braden created the charity to spread awareness of Alzheimer’s disease while he was at the University of Washington. Mrs. Bishop passed away in 2019 at the age of 59.

The Bishop family has continued to be a voice for Alzheimer’s awareness has been awarding a family affected by Alzheimer’s a grant named after Mrs. Bishop. Braden’s initiative to create change and be an advocate has recently come under the spotlight.

Braden Bishop understands the platform he is given as a professional athlete and he has used it! Braden has addressed social injustice, racism, and has been a huge voice for women’s sports. I mean what is there not to like about him?

He constantly retweets the successes of the Seattle Storm and OL Reign! Braden and his wife even bought season tickets to both teams and gifted them to youth and women in the area.

https://twitter.com/bradenbishop7/status/1373069682069008385?s=20

Braden Bishop is also a business owner. He co-founded Cognition Coffee with his dad and $1 from each purchase goes towards the 4MOM charity. His wife, Brianna Bishop is the Director of Communications for Cognition Coffee as well.

Arguably the biggest news of all is that Braden and Brianna had their first child on May 10th. Braden Bishop has been extremely busy with all of the different things he is doing, but life just got even crazier!

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The former Mariners outfielder is a Husky

You also have to cheer on the local guy right? Braden Bishop was a stud at the University of Washington. He had a .293 career batting average and stole 42 bases. In his final season as a Husky, he made the All Pac-12 team, All Pac-12 defensive team, and an honorable mention for the Pac-12 All-Academic team.

I actually met Braden Bishop at one of the UW baseball camps when I was in high school and he was a great guy. I knew right there and then that he would end up being special whether that be on the baseball field or not.

What is even cooler is that Brianna was a student-athlete at UW as well. Brianna was on the women’s basketball team and played a good amount when healthy.

Braden Bishop’s numbers in a Mariners uniform

The 27-year-old hasn’t had consistent playing time in Seattle, which could be part of the reason why he hasn’t been able to put the pieces together. Across three seasons, he has played in 47 games and had 99 plate appearances. In those opportunities, Bishop has a .133 batting average and .343 OPS.

I think most people knew that his bat would be sort of a wildcard when we drafted him. But, his defensive metrics have been quite good and is where a lot of his value comes from. Over three seasons, he has seven defensive runs saved above average and three zone fielding runs above average. Braden has also not made an error in the big leagues yet.

All this to say, Braden Bishop’s career as a Mariners player hasn’t been the greatest. But, Braden is more than a baseball player and continues to be a special person off the field. I have been a fan of him for a while and I will be rooting for him in San Francisco, as should you.