So far this offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays have had a huge overhaul of their coaching staff. The Jays are hoping that with the big changes being made, it would give the club a new focus and direction to lead them to success in the 2025 MLB season.
Despite the numerous moves that have been made thus far, apparently the Jays were far from done with their offseason shakeup. Just recently, Jays GM Ross Atkins announced that they have added two more intriguing pieces to their evolving staff in Graham Johnson and Lou Ionnatti, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
Blue Jays continue coaching staff shakeup, announce two more adds for 2025 season
Johnson had been the pitching coach of the New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for the past three seasons. He also served as a pitching coach for the Houston Astros Double-A affiliate Corpus Christi during the 2019 and 2021 seasons (as the 2020 minor league campaign was wiped out by the COVID pandemic). In joining the Jays, Johnson will serve as the team’s new bullpen coach, replacing former coach Jeff Ware ahead of the 2025 season.
As for Ionnatti, he is coming over to Toronto from the World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers. With the Dodgers organization, he has served under various roles in their minor league system since 2018, including most recently as their minor league hitting co-ordinator. Ionnatti will team up with returnee Hunter Mense as the Jays’ assistant hitting coaches to work under head hitting coach and recently hired David Popkins.
For those that thought these might be the last managerial moves that the Jays would make this offseason, think again. They are currently still looking for a new assistant pitching coach, and may also consider a new field co-ordinator as well, according to Davidi. No matter how much more action we will witness with respect to the changing of the guard this winter, hopefully it will be the first step towards a successful winning season ahead for the Jays in 2025.