After helping the Blue Jays reach the World Series last season, Mense will bring his expertise to Tony Vitello's staff as hitting coach.
When looking to upgrade across the board, the San Francisco Giants have been focused on doing so starting with hiring Tony Vitello as their new manager.
For Vitello, he's been working hard to develop a staff that can maximize the most out of a lineup next season.
Hunter Mense, who was a part of the Blue Jays' major-league staff, has been hired to become the Giants' new hitting coach. The Giants have not officially made an announcement on this move, but Toronto general manager Ross Atkins said at the General Managers meetings in Las Vegas that Mense was moving along to the Bay Area.
According to an article in The Athletic, which first reported Mense's move to San Francisco, there's a connection between Vitello and Mense already there.
Mense and Jayce Tingler are the first new additions to Vitello's staff. Tingler and Vitello were teammates at the University of Missouri and have remained close friends. Mense played for the Tigers, alongside future Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, after Vitello had returned as an assistant coach.
According to The Athletic report, Mense was influential when Scherzer chose to sign a one-year deal with Toronto before last season.
Don't be surprised if Scherzer also moves along to the Giants after his tenure with Toronto appears to be over.
"He’s exceptionally disciplined and very bright," Atkins said to reporters in Las Vegas this week. "He brought those attributes into our process and connected well with our players and made a big difference for us over the years."
What will be on Mense's to-do list for the Giants? How about getting more long-term production from the lineup itself. Sure, the Giants hit a bunch of home runs, hitting at least one over an 18-game stretch. But San Francisco didn't have many "big" innings, and Mense will have to get more out of the lineup this coming season.
Look for Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, and others to lean into Mense's mind for strategy. Also, Mense will make Jung Hoo Lee a focus of his work, too. Lee has a big-money contract and his output didn't size up with the money that the Giants are paying him.
According to The Athletic report, it appears that the Giants coaches didn't enforce changes that Lee needed to make in his entire hitting approach. Mense will not mince words with Lee, though, and get him to fix some areas that need help.