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Report: Blue Jays lose assistant hitting coach Mense to Giants

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Another member of the coaching staff is leaving the Toronto Blue Jays, with assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense set to join the San Francisco Giants, The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon reports.

Mense will take a hitting coach job with the Giants under new manager Tony Vitello. Mense played under Vitello at the University of Missouri.

Bannon notes Mense has been on the Blue Jays’ big-league staff since 2022. He previously coached with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Jays’ Double-A affiliate. He worked alongside hitting coach David Popkins and assistant Lou Iannotti this past season, helping the Jays score the fourth-most runs in baseball during the regular season (798) and reach Game 7 of the World Series.

Mense’s departure comes after bench coach Don Mattingly left the Jays earlier this off-season. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Philadelphia Phillies are interested in Mattingly, who is reportedly not planning to retire.