The Blue Jays are parting methods with hitting coach Guillermo Martinez, stories Scott Mitchell of TSN (X hyperlink). It’s the primary change to John Schneider’s employees on the heels of a disappointing season.
Martinez has been Toronto’s hitting coach for the reason that 2018-19 offseason. The Jays have additionally employed Don Mattingly as bench coach and offensive coordinator for the previous couple seasons. Nonetheless the Jays divided duties between Mattingly and Martinez, they’ll search for a brand new voice at hitting coach.
The Jays had excessive expectations this yr after successful between 89 and 92 video games in every of the earlier three seasons. As a substitute, Toronto completed on the backside of the AL East with a 74-88 exhibiting. The offense was a giant a part of that. The Jays completed twenty third in MLB with 671 runs. Their fee stats had been nearer to common. They hit .241/.313/.389, ending between thirteenth and twentieth within the slash classes. The Jays had been twenty sixth in dwelling runs, although, definitely not offering the sort of energy they’d anticipated. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. related on 30 homers; nobody else on the workforce reached 20.
Guerrero seems like a prime 10 hitter in MLB. The Jays obtained promising work out of rookie infielder Spencer Horwitz. There wasn’t a ton else that went proper for the workforce offensively. Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Justin Turner had been traded midseason. Leo Jiménez was the one different hitter (minimal 200 plate appearances) with a greater than common wRC+, and his .229/.329/.358 line was marginally above par. Toronto’s greatest give attention to the offensive facet is getting Bo Bichette again on monitor. The star shortstop entered the 2024 marketing campaign as a profession .299/.340/.487 hitter. He hit .225/.277/.322 this season round a trio of injured record stints.
