SF Giants swipe hitting coach with perfect mentor to help spark offense

The SF Giants have reportedly added a key hitting voice to Tony Vitello's coaching staff. According to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic, the Giants are hiring away Toronto Blue Jays assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense to join their staff.

SF Giants reportedly add key hitting voice to the coaching staff

The Giants have conveyed that they would be making sweeping changes to the coaching staff. This is especially true for the hitting coaches.

Pat Burrell is being reassigned within the organization. He has served in some capacity for the Giants since his playing career concluded after the 2011 season. Burrell has even been a trusted advisor to both Brian Sabean and Farhan Zaidi.

On the other hand, Damon Minor was let go by the organization. He had served as an assistant hitting coach for the Sacramento River Cats for years before earning a promotion to the major league staff last season.

However, Minor only worked for one season on the Giants' coaching staff. According to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (subscription required) he is set to join the Chicago Cubs' Triple-A affiliate as a hitting coach.

Oscar Bernard is the only hitting coach that will be retained. He had developed a good rapport with Rafael Devers in his first year at the helm.

Hunter Mense will join Bernard as part of the hitting contingent. Mense has been an assistant hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays since the 2022 season. Before that, he worked as a hitting coach and coordinator in the Blue Jays' farm system.

He is a disciple of Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins whose creative hitting philosophy has seemed to help out Toronto in a big way.

Toronto reached the World Series this year, and nearly came away with a victory. The offense did a lot of the heavy lifting due in part to increase in bat speed and a contact-heavy approach.

The impact was not unique to this season. Since 2022, the Blue Jays have put up a 109 wRC+ and a 19.8 percent strikeout rate, which is the fourth-best and best mark in baseball, respectively.

When a team has success, teams often want to replicate that. It happened to the Giants in 2021, as Donnie Ecker was hired away by the Texas Rangers.

For Mense, it is not just about replicating success. Tony Vitello and Mense were college teammates at the University of Missouri in the early 2000's. Those types of connections often open the door for new opportunities. For Vitello and Mense, they get a chance to now reunite on a major league coaching staff.