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Well, for all the talk of the Giants’ lineup being not only set going into next season but productive thanks to their new approach, they’re now in a situation where they need a new hitting coach. Maria Guardado and Mark Feinsand are reporting that Hunter Mense, the Giants’ hitting coach for all of one season, is headed for Kansas City.
For as much plaudits as online fans seemed to have for the lineup — and, indeed, if you ignore a decent chunk of the season, the offense was spectacular! — it’s worth noting that the Giants’ final team line of .245/.306/.400 (7.4 BB% & 22.1 K%) was 3% worse than the league average. Their 669 runs scored was 26th out of 30 teams. The 2026 Royals scored 690 runs (22nd) on a line of .248/.316/.402 (98 wRC+). And, of course, the Giants’ lineup was one of the worst… things… in the world in the first month of the season.
GPT (@giantsprospects.bsky.social) has been analyzing the swing data of the Giants’ veteran core (Chapman, Adames, and Devers) to try to understand their slow starts and assigned some of the potential blame to Mense’s instruction.
I point this out because it’s rarely clear just how much influence a particular coach has on any one thing. We might want to say that Ron Washington is a miracle worker, but how much of Luis Arraez’s success at second base had to do with Washington and how much with Arraez? Along the same line, GPT’s analysis does capture some part of this, but Roger Munter’s replies point to how much Chapman had to do with his results (to say nothing of him being the one actually doing the hitting):
But if we’re just looking at results, the lineup did turn things around after a bad start. Rafael Devers is a Silver Slugger Award finalist. Bryce Eldridge never looked overmatched. Drew Gilbert found a groove.
There were some nice things about the situation, but maybe not good enough to keep him around? It seems hard to believe that this is a personality conflict with the manager. As noted when he was hired:
Mense — pronounced “MENTZ,” like how Hunter Pence pronounces his surname — is good friends with Tony Vitello, so those who’ve been on the Vitello MLB Connections beat are being rewarded right now. Pavlovic mentions, “Both are Missouri natives and Mense played at Missouri while Vitello was an assistant coach.” This is the same setup for those Max Scherzer to the Giants rumors, by the way, and Scherzer is currently the only active major leaguer from Vitello’s time in Missouri.
Still, relationships can sour. Or, a simple matter of a better opportunity came along. I’m sure some explanation will emerge, but you have to admit that it’s a bit odd and from the outset seemingly another ding against the Giants in this abysmal calendar year for them. A team without a hitting coach as we head into a lockout probably isn’t the best idea in the world… but maybe the Giants have a better backup plan lined up.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/giants-lose-hitting-coach-hunter-204404314.html
