For a third straight season, the Giants will have a different head hitting coach.
Hitting coach Hunter Mense is leaving the Giants and joining the Kansas City Royals’ coaching staff as an assistant hitting coach, a source confirmed to this news organization.
The team has not announced the coaching change. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and Maria Guardado were the first to report that the Royals had hired Mense.
Mense, 42, spent just one season as the Giants’ hitting coach, his first season as a head hitting coach in the majors. Mense had a connection with manager Tony Vitello, having been a player at the University of Missouri when Vitello was an assistant coach. Mense replaced former hitting coach Pat Burrell, who held the hitting coach position for two seasons.
Now, with free agency having begun on Monday, the Giants will also begin searching for a new head hitting coach. Assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard, who has been on staff for the last two seasons, is still with the organization.
Mense is the first member of last year’s coaching staff to leave the organization entirely. Pitching coach Justin Meccage and bullpen coach Jesse Chavez will maintain their roles, while Frank Anderson will transition from major-league director of pitching to an assistant pitching coach. Additionally, Christian Wonders will transition from an assistant pitching coach to working in the farm system as the Director of Pitching.
Under Mense, the Giants’ injury-riddled roster finished 23rd in OPS (.706). Despite below-average production from the team, Rafael Devers is a finalist for the National League Silver Slugger Award at first base, while Bryce Eldridge emerged as a foundational piece of San Francisco’s offense. Mense also helped players such as Jonah Cox and former Giant Heliot Ramos make midseason adjustments.