Former Padres reliever returns to San Diego, this time as a coach

San Diego State announced Tuesday that the baseball team has added former Padres reliever Mark Melancon to the coaching staff as pitching development coordinator. He joins head coach Shaun Cole, assistant coaches Julius McDougal, Tony Tarasco and Max Foxcroft, and baseball chief of staff Brian Shusba.

“It is a great blessing and pleasure for our program to welcome Mark to our coaching staff,” Cole said in a San Diego State news release. “He will assist us in all aspects of our pitching development and bring his unmatched experience as an elite pitcher. Most importantly, Mark is also a great person and a role model. He completed his studies while rehabilitating with the New York Yankees. This speaks highly of his work ethic, discipline and desire to be great off the baseball field. He will impact our program, our coaches and our student-athletes on and off the field.”

Melancon, 39, played 13 seasons in the Major Leagues before retiring from baseball in 2023 as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Wheat Ridge, Colorado native struggled with a subscapularis strain that kept him off the mound for most of the season. Melancon completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Reno in September 2023. However, there was not enough progress to warrant his inclusion on the Diamondbacks’ postseason roster, so he never returned to the MLB for his final season.

“It is exciting to be part of a team that has great experience and a clear vision of what needs to happen to be successful at the highest level,” Melancon said in the San Diego State press release. “I really want to help these players compete for a national championship and hopefully get to the next level.”

As an Arizona graduate, Melancon has experience at the collegiate level. He played in 29 games in his freshman season, setting a freshman record for appearances in a single season and contributing to Arizona’s appearance in the NCAA Men’s College World Series.

Throughout his career, Melancon played for various MLB teams, including the Padres, Diamondbacks, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves. He recorded a career ERA of 2.94 in 732 appearances.

Melancon is a four-time NL All-Star. He was named the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year in 2015 with the Pirates after making a team-record 51 saves. That same year, he broke the Pirates record for most saves in the first half of a season (29) and finished eighth in NL CY Young voting. In 2021, he was the NL Pitcher of the Month for April and won the Padres Darrel Akerfelds Bullpen Award.