Brian Buchanan

Brian James Buchanan

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 230 lb.
• School University of Virginia
• High School Fairfax High School
• Debut May 19, 2000
• Final Game August 29, 2004
• Born July 21, 1973 in Miami, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Brian Buchanan played five seasons in the big leagues.

He hit .322 for the Virginia Cavaliers in 1993 and was an All-American as a junior in 1994, hitting .396 with 22 home runs (5th in D-I) and 66 RBI. He was selected by the New York Yankees in the first round (24th) of the 1994 draft and signed for $500,000. Assigned to the Oneonta Yankees, he hit just .226/.335/.367. In 1995, he hit a solid .302/~.362/.427 for the Greensboro Bats with 7 steals in 8 tries but only played in 23 games. 1996 placed Brian with the Tampa Yankees and he batted .260/~.309/.375 with 23 steals in 31 attempts. In 1997, Buchanan was 8th in the Eastern League in average after hitting .309/~.353/.434 for the Norwich Navigators; moving up to the Columbus Clippers, he hit .279/~.323/.492. In 1998, he went with Eric Milton and Cristian Guzman to the Minnesota Twins for Chuck Knoblauch. He had a .278/~.326/.450 year for the Salt Lake Buzz and followed with a similar .297/~.344/.440 season in 1999.

Brian made his big league debut for the Twins in 2000 and hit .232/.301/.305 in 30 games; with Salt Lake, he made the PCL All-Star team, batting .297/.363/.580 with 27 home runs and 103 RBI, 6 behind league leader Phil Hiatt. From 2001 to 2003, he was a solid spare outfielder with annual OPS+es in the 110s. In 2002, he was sent to the San Diego Padres in a deal for future All-Star Jason Bartlett. He saw his most substantial game action with the Pads in 2003, batting .263 in 115 games but only 198 at bats. He later played for the New York Mets before rejoining the Twins organization in 2005, playing for the Rochester Red Wings (.316/.355/.482). He began 2006 in the Cincinnati Reds system but struggled, hitting .179 for the Louisville Bats. In June, he joined the St. Paul Saints of the independent American Association. The Softbank Hawks signed him, when he traveled to Japan with the Saints to play an offseason exhibition series. In 2007, Buchanan batted .285/.326/.465 with 11 home runs and 48 RBI in 99 games and 288 at bats, but was released after the season. In 2008, he returned to the U.S., signed a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals, and played for the Omaha Royals, primarily as a pinch hitter, finishing with a .228 batting average.

Buchanan managed in the Royals' chain for six years, then became hitting coach of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in 2016. In 2017, he was named the Royals' assistant hitting coach but stayed in the position only one season. He was the hitting coach with the Omaha Storm Chasers from 2018-2019. After the 2018 season Buchanan served as the hitting coach for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League. He was scheduled to return to Omaha in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19, then did coach Omaha in 2021-2022.

Buchanan was the son-in-law of the late NBA all-time great John Havlicek.

Sources: Japanese Baseball

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2010	Idaho Falls Chukars	Pioneer League	27-49	8th	Kansas City Royals
2011	Idaho Falls Chukars	Pioneer League	33-43	6th	Kansas City Royals
2012	Kane County Cougars	Midwest League	68-72	10th	Kansas City Royals
2013	Lexington Legends	South Atlantic League	68-70	8th	Kansas City Royals
2014	Lexington Legends	South Atlantic League	57-83	11th	Kansas City Royals
2015	Wilmington Blue Rocks	Carolina League	62-77	8th	Kansas City Royals	Lost League Finals