The Blue Jays are parting ways with hitting coach Guillermo Martinez, reports Scott Mitchell of TSN (X link). It’s the first change to John Schneider’s staff on the heels of a disappointing season.
Martinez has been Toronto’s hitting coach since the 2018-19 offseason. The Jays have also employed Don Mattingly as bench coach and offensive coordinator for the past couple of seasons. However the Jays divided responsibilities between Mattingly and Martinez, they’ll look for a new voice at hitting coach.
The Jays had high expectations this year after winning between 89 and 92 games in each of the previous three seasons. Instead, Toronto finished at the bottom of the AL East with a 74-88 showing. The offense was a big part of that. The Jays finished 23rd in MLB with 671 runs. Their rate stats were closer to average. They hit .241/.313/.389, finishing between 13th and 20th in the slash categories. The Jays were 26th in home runs, though, certainly not providing the kind of power they’d anticipated. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. connected on 30 homers; no one else on the team reached 20.
Guerrero looks like a top-10 hitter in MLB. The Jays got promising work out of rookie infielder Spencer Horwitz. There wasn’t a ton else that went right for the team offensively. Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Justin Turner were traded midseason. Leo Jimenez was the only other hitter (minimum 200 plate appearances) with a better-than-average wRC+ and his .229/.329/.358 line was marginally above par. Toronto’s biggest focus on the offensive side is getting Bo Bichette back on track. The star shortstop entered the 2024 campaign as a career .299/.340/.487 hitter. He hit .225/.277/.322 this season around a trio of injured list stints.