"In today's game, there's a ton of different ways that you can get things across to players and a ton of different ways to help players get better from an individual standpoint, from a holistic team standpoint. If you're just limiting yourself to one of those things, you're in a tough spot. If I'm boxing myself in any sort of way, I'm a hitting coach that loves to score runs."
"What it's felt like has played in the playoffs the last few years has been teams that are contact-oriented, but it's not just contact-oriented. It's a bunch of guys that can do a lot of different things."
Hunter Mense, the new hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants, rejects a purely analytical or feel-based approach to coaching, instead adopting a flexible methodology focused on scoring runs. The Giants have struggled offensively over the past four seasons, ranking 20th in runs scored and 22nd in OPS. Mense arrives from the Toronto Blue Jays, where he served as assistant hitting coach for a team that reached the 2025 World Series with one of baseball's best offenses. The Blue Jays ranked third in OPS, fourth in runs scored, and led the league in contact rate while maintaining the lowest strikeout rate. Mense emphasizes that successful playoff teams employ contact-oriented approaches with versatile players capable of multiple offensive strategies.
Read at The Mercury News
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