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Former Blue Jays slugger has an unexpected place in Brewers’ World Series story

Milwaukee’s October run includes connections to the Blue Jays.
ByMatthew Sookram
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Milwaukee Brewers hitting coach Daniel Vogelbach is shown during the first inning of their game against the New York Mets Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Milwaukee Brewers hitting coach Daniel Vogelbach is shown during the first inning of their game against the New York Mets Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Toronto Blue Jays aren’t in this year’s World Series, but there are a couple of familiar names in the Milwaukee Brewers’ dugout.

Former Blue Jays designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach and former Toronto hitting coach Guillermo Martínez joined the Brewers’ hitting staff ahead of the 2026 season. Now Milwaukee enters Game 3 on Monday (Oct. 26) with a 2-0 series lead over the Tampa Bay Rays, two wins from the first championship in franchise history.

The Brewers have reached baseball’s biggest stage with an offense that finds ways to make an opposing pitchers night difficult, even without hitting a ton of home runs. Though they have gotten a few big ones in October.

But that isn't necessarily a new approach, even with some new faces on the bench. Milwaukee finished 2025 third in runs, second in on-base percentage and with the majors’ second-lowest chase rate. Vogelbach and Martínez joined an already established approach rather than building one from scratch.

Martínez was the Blue Jays’ minor league hitting coordinator in 2018 before serving as their major league hitting coach from 2019 through 2024. He spent 2025 with the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate in Knoxville, then returned to a major league dugout with Milwaukee.

Vogelbach’s Toronto tenure was much shorter. He had a brief stop in 2020, appearing in just two games. He returned in 2024, when he hit .186 with one home run in 31 games before being released in June. After working as a special assistant hitting coach with Pittsburgh in 2025, he joined Martínez under Brewers lead hitting coach Eric Theisen. Jason Lane serves as Milwaukee’s offense and strategy coordinator.

Brewers have the right guys giving the right information in their World Series run

While that may seem like that is too many cooks in the kitchen for anything to function, on the contrary, having this many guys allows Milwaukee to focus more in depth in different areas. Martinez is the guy who teaches "pitch hunting." He works with hitters to build a game plan on deciding which specific pitches they want to go after.

Vogelbach is the coach who works with players on how to do the practical, mechanical aspects of hitting. He helps hitters deal with high-velocity, tries to simplify their mental approach. It may seem like chaos, but it's worked.

Milwaukee sat at the top of the offensive leader boards in 2026 - much like the Blue Jays did in 2025. The Brewers have scored the second most runs in baseball with 832 in the regular season. They tied their division rivals the Chicago Cubs with the second highest walk rate 10.6% and got on base at a .341 clip, the best OBP in the majors. The also had the highest batting average in MLB at .258.

When there were opportunities to score, the Brewers were even more dangerous. They posted a .276 batting average, second best in MLB and a league leading .363 OBP and 118 wRC+. Their walk rate also increased to 11.9% in those situations.

Milwaukee’s success isn't to suggest that Toronto moved on from the wrong people. What it does provide is an interesting contrast of how having the right people in the right place at the right time isn't something that can always be predicted.

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