As the San Francisco Giants put together their coaching staff under new manager Tony Vitello, it’s only natural for him to lean on connections.
That appears to be the case with the Giants’ new hitting coach. Mitch Bannon of the Athletic reported on X (formerly Twitter) that San Francisco was set to hire Toronto Blue Jays assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense for the hitting coach role.
The Giants had not made a formal announcement. But a quick search easily revealed the connection between the pair.
The Tony Vitello-Hunter Mense Connection
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
The connection goes back more than 20 years, as Mense was a player at the University of Missouri and Vitello, who also played at Mizzou, returned to be an assistant coach. He eventually became the pitching coach and guided the careers of notable future Major Leaguers, including Max Scherzer.
Mense found his way to pro baseball after the Miami Marlins drafted him in the 17th round of the 2006 MLB draft. He played five years in their system and topped out at Triple-A. He finished his pro career with a .254 career average.
He worked his way into pro coaching and became the hitting coach at Double-A New Hampshire, the Blue Jays’ Double-A affiliate, in 2018. The following season he became the organization’s minor league hitting coordinator. Then, in 2022, he joined the Major League staff as the assistant hitting coach.
The Blue Jays just finished off a run to the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. He was part of a hitting staff that helped the Blue Jays finish 29th in the Majors in strikeouts and led in batting average.
Vitello worked his way through the college baseball ranks to become the head coach at the University of Tennessee. While he doesn’t have any experience in professional baseball as a player, coach or manager, he rebuilt the Volunteers into a national power.
His work reached a zenith in 2024 when he guided Tennessee to 60 wins and the Men’s College World Series championship in 2024. He also took the program to the MCWS in 2021 and 2023. He also led the program to two SEC regular-season and tournament championships.
Part of Mense’s staff is already in place. President of baseball operations Buster Posey told reporters earlier this week, including NBC Sports Bay Area, that assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard would be back for 2026, along with quality control coach Taira Uematsu and bullpen catcher Eliezer Zambrano.
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