Can Hunter Mense help Giants hitters like he did for Blue Jays' World Series team?
· Yahoo Sports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - In a league that celebrates superstar players, the Toronto Blue Jays navigated to the World Series last year, in part, with one of the most cohesive offenses in baseball.
The Blue Jays have their stars - including Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - power and contact hitters, but their strength was putting the ball in play more than any other team while striking out the least. They consistently kept the bases active.
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New San Francisco Giants hitting coach Hunter Mense was part of the hitting staff in Toronto last year, led by David Popkins. It's no coincidence that Toronto's strength, and Mense's expertise, jives with what the Giants could improve on at the plate in 2026.
"Hunter was really good about that, just kind of understanding of what your plan is going into the batter's box with a lot of confidence," said Matt Chapman, who played in Toronto for two years before joining the Giants.
The Giants' offense wasn't terrible in 2025. It wasn't all that great, either.
In peak stretches, they managed clutch hits in flurries or lived on power surges from big boppers such as Rafael Devers,Willy Adames and Chapman. At worst, they struggled to get runners home or looked overmatched by opposing starters.
All that could improve if some of the mainstays settle more into their roles. On paper, the starting lineup is balanced. Devers, Adames, Chapman and, if he makes the team, Bryce Eldridge, supply the power and live with the high strikeout rates as a result while Luis Arráez and Jung Hoo Lee are there to put the ball in play and live with the lack of pop.
Mense isn't on board to change everyone's style, but he's starting to make his style felt. Early in spring training, Logan Webb lamented (jokingly) that the opposing hitters in his live bullpen had game-planned for what is supposed to be a back-in-the-saddle outing.
"I think you can create a lot more contact or contact skills start to play up a little bit when the game's planned really well," Mense said.
"We would always have ways or knowledge of ways to - if this ball needs to be put in play, what's the swing that you need to take to be able to put this ball in play? This ball needs to be driven out of the yard, what's the type of swing that you need to impart to drive the ball out of the yard? So I think it was just helping them to build the Rolodex of swings that are needed within the game."
Mense and manager Tony Vitello go way back to their University of Missouri baseball days. Vitello was in his second year as an assistant when Mense came aboard as a freshman.
"The intensity at which he did things back then is just the same as what it is now," Mense said.
Mense's ties to the Giants started nearly 20 years ago, in effect, when Mense and outfielder Hunter Pence played a year apart in the South Atlantic League. Mense, whose last name is pronounced similarly to Pence, got heckled by a fan in West Virginia over their near identical names.
"Quit trying to be like Hunter Pence," the fan yelled. "You're not him!"
Several years later, Mense introduced himself to Pence at spring training when Pence was with the Philadelphia Phillies and Mense was working with the Miami Marlins. Pence was shocked, as Mense recalls.
"I will actually tell people when they read my name and I say it's Hunter Mense, they look up at me and say, ‘Just like Hunter Pence,' and they never forget it," Mense said. "I'll use it a lot here because people will know."
Monday's game:The Giants moved to 3-0 in Cactus League play with a 6-2 win over the A's. Arráez had a two-hit game with two RBIs.
Notable was Trevor McDonald's fastball velocity spike in his inning Monday. The pitch averaged 93 mph last year and it hit 97 mph against the A's. He credited the increase to a change in diet - a lot more meat - and better sleep patterns. McDonald is another young pitcher who could compete for a spot in the bullpen (adding to a list that includes Hayden Birdsong and Blade Tidwell). Like most, he hasn't been told if he will be stretched out as a starter yet.
JT Brubaker started the game, allowing two runs with two walks and three hits over an inning. He also hasn't been told if he'll be stretched out, but Vitello indicated he may slot into the bullpen as a swingman.
New arm:The Giants signed Brent Honeywell Jr. - a top pitching prospect from 2016-2018 - to a minor league deal with a minor league spring invite.
This article originally published at Can Hunter Mense help Giants hitters like he did for Blue Jays' World Series team?.