As coach Brian Patrick Bannister (born February 28, 1981) is an American director of pitching for the Chicago White Sox.

[2] Bannister helped the Trojans to the College World Series in both 2000 and 2001 while pitching alongside former Major Leaguers Mark Prior and Anthony Reyes.

[7][8] There, he put together a strong season, posting a 4–1 record with one save and an ERA of 2.15 in 12 games (nine starts) and was named a New York–Penn League Postseason All-Star.

[9] His experimentation with throwing a two-seam fastball and circle changeup led to this decline in numbers, but prepared him for the competition at higher levels of professional baseball.

Bannister was then promoted to the Double-A Binghamton Mets following the trade of Scott Kazmir to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, where he had a 3–3 record and an ERA of 4.08 in eight starts.

The next year, Bannister began the 2005 season in Double-A Binghamton, where he posted numbers that reflected the quality of his newly developed pitches: a 9–4 record with a 2.56 ERA in 18 starts.

This display caused Bannister to earn a promotion to Triple-A Norfolk Tides, where he showed further promise against better competition.

[12] A former second baseman, Bannister also excelled at the plate, acquiring four hits in his first ten at-bats, including three doubles and two RBI.

[13] After making five starts, Bannister was put on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring,[14] which he injured while running the bases in the fifth inning of an April 26 game against the San Francisco Giants.

[14] Bannister spent a month on a Minor League rehab assignment, pitching for the St. Lucie Mets and the Norfolk Tides.

[16] When Orlando Hernández was unable to pitch in late August, Bannister made a spot start against the Philadelphia Phillies, giving up four runs in six innings in a 4–3 loss.

[17] Immediately after the game, Bannister was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk to allow Óliver Pérez to make a spot start the following day.

Because his hamstring injury reduced the number of innings pitched in 2006, Bannister joined the Tomateros de Culiacán in the Mexican Pacific League.

[9] On December 5, 2006, during the MLB Winter Meetings, Bannister was traded from the New York Mets to the Kansas City Royals for relief pitcher Ambiorix Burgos.

[21] In June 2007, Bannister was one of two major league pitchers to win five games, going 5–1 with a 2.75 ERA in six starts, including a streak of 18 innings without an earned run, and was named AL Rookie of the Month.

[32] He was called up on April 22 to fill the number-five spot in the rotation, and tossed six shutout innings in his return that day against the Cleveland Indians.

[35][36] After attempting to pitch with the injury and losing five consecutive starts, he was placed on the disabled list for the rest of the season in early September.

[41] On September 9, 2015, he was promoted by Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to a new position, director of pitching analysis and development.

[46] In September 2023, Bannister was hired as the senior pitching advisor for the Chicago White Sox under new general manager Chris Getz.

He is a devout Christian[49] and the oldest son of former Major League All-Star pitcher Floyd Bannister, who pitched from 1977 to 1992 with Houston, Seattle, Chicago (AL), Kansas City, California, and Texas.