Revolutionary Blue Jays coaching staff absorbs blow after Giants steal key piece

Another vacancy the Blue Jays need to fill
Toronto Blue Jays Photo Day
Toronto Blue Jays Photo Day | Elsa/GettyImages

The Toronto Blue Jays will be searching for not one, but two new coaches for their MLB staff ahead of the 2026 season. After Don Mattingly stepped down from his role as bench coach earlier this offseason, it has been announced the assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense will also be leaving the club.

As reported by Mitch Bannon of The Athletic, Mense will be taking his talents to the West Coast and joining the San Francisco Giants to be their hitting coach.

Revolutionary Blue Jays coaching staff absorbs blow after Giants steal key piece

It is not surprising to see that members of the Blue Jays staff are being approached by other organizations. After all, what the 2025 team did was completely buck the trend of what many have felt is the only way you can win ball games in this day and age. The Blue Jays worked the count, they put the ball in play, they moved runners over and they didn't try to swing for the fences on every pitch. It was a strategy that got them to within two outs of winning the World Series and it looks to be a strategy that other teams will try to emulate over the next few years.

One of the minds behind that strategy was the 41-year-old Mense. He played his college ball at the University of Missouri alongside Giants new manager Tony Vitello. After his playing days, Mense became a coach, working in the Blue Jays' minor league system and was promoted ahead of the 2022 season to the MLB staff. During his time with the team, the Blue Jays have put up a respectable .257/.326/.416 line and 109 wRC+, the fourth best mark in the majors in that time frame.

Mense worked under David Popkins this past season and Popkins seems to have been a revelation for the Blue Jays in getting the Blue Jays to abandon whatever it was they were doing before, and lean into this new strategy. It paid off as many players had bounce back seasons, including 36-year-old Silver Slugger winner George Springer.

In 2025, the Blue Jays led the league in hits (1461), batting average (.265), OBP (.333) and had the second lowest strikeouts (1099). There may not be a "Moneyball" type of book or movie made about the 2025 Blue Jays, but it is safe to say they have changed how people think about how to win in today's game and the Giants now have a major piece of that winning puzzle.

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations