Giants To Hire Hunter Mense As Hitting Coach
The Giants are going to hire Blue Jays assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense as their hitting coach, reports Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. Yesterday, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reported that the Giants were targeting Mense.
Mense, 41, played baseball at the University of Missouri at the same time as new Giants manager Tony Vitello. Mense was drafted by the Marlins and played in the minor league system for a while, then spent some time in indy ball. Once his playing days were done, he pivoted to coaching, working in the Blue Jays’ minor league system.
He was promoted to the major league staff ahead of the 2022 season. It’s always tough to give one coach credit for the performance of several players, but for what it’s worth, the Jays have performed well during his time as an assistant hitting coach. Over the past four years, the Jays have a .257/.326/.416 line and 109 wRC+, which puts them fourth-best in the majors.
Last week, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said there would be no “proactive subtractions” from the coaching staff. However, it seems Mense has been lured to San Francisco by his former college teammate offering him a promotion. The Giants have had Pat Burrell as their hitting coach for the past two years. It was reported last week that he would be staying with the Giants but in a different role.
The Giants have been hovering around .500 for the past four years. In 2025, they hit .235/.311/.386 for a wRC+ of 97. Perhaps a full season from Rafael Devers and/or a breakout from Bryce Eldridge will help them break through, but Mense will also try to do his part to help. The Jays will presumably look to add an assistant to replace Mense, whether that’s an internal promotion or external hire.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Blue Jays Finalize Coaching Staff
The Blue Jays announced their 2025 coaching staff on Monday afternoon. The only previously unreported addition is assistant pitching coach Sam Greene.
The 27-year-old Greene is one of the younger coaches on an MLB staff. This is his first big league coaching work. The Jays noted that he spent the ’24 season working as a senior pitching research specialist. Greene, a Pennsylvania native, pitched collegiately in Canada at Montreal’s McGill University. He has worked for the Jays for four seasons.
Greene joins newly-hired bullpen coach Graham Johnson as assistants to pitching coach Pete Walker. The Jays also shook up the hitting side, bringing in David Popkins to work as lead hitting instructor and tabbing Lou Iannotti as an assistant. The rest of John Schneider’s staff — all of whom are returnees from last season — is as follows: associate manager DeMarlo Hale, bench coach Don Mattingly, first base coach Mark Budzinski, third base coach Carlos Febles, assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense, and mental performance coach John Lannan.