With 13 runs in their first springtime defeat, the Blue Jays start their offensive revolution under Mattingly.
The manager and general manager, Ross Atkins, started looking for someone who could combine all those components. They conversed with a few outside applicants. But time and again, despite the bench coach even suggesting outside candidates for the position, they kept returning to the one person they already had on staff, Don Mattingly.
Schneider remarked, “He was the ideal match.” “With the kind of players we have, you want someone who has been in the fire and can relate to them; the fact that he had spent a year with the lads really set him apart from the other people we spoke with. .. All that mattered was if he wanted to take that on in addition to everything else he was doing. But there’s no one better when it comes to identifying a guy.
Mattingly acknowledged that he desired the position; “it kind of organically happened,” he said. The Blue Jays appointed Mattingly offensive coordinator in November in addition to his bench coach responsibilities. Over the following few months, he, hitting coach Guillermo Martinez, and assistants Hunter Mense and Matt Hague put in many hours to make sure they knew their batters’ capabilities, researched the areas of the zone where they are most effective, and pinpointed which pitches to hunt down.
Utilizing that knowledge is the fundamental component of creating “an individual team approach, where each guy has a responsibility to be a tough out,” according to Mattingly, supported by a strategy to carry out that exact task.
The Blue Jays’ opening game of the Grapefruit League season ended in a 14–13 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, marking the first of several dry runs. With three hits, including a double, and three RBIs, Daulton Varsho led the team. Bo Bichette and Isiah Kiner-Falefa each contributed two hits.
The Blue Jays’ offense, which ranked seventh in the American League in terms of home runs (188) and runs scored (746) last season, needs to be improved if they are to be a better team than they were at 89-73, when they secured the third and final wild-card slot.
Their attacking performance did have some interesting inconsistencies, for sure.
With the third-fewest strikeouts (1,303) and fourth-most walks (550), they led the league in both batting average (.256) and on-base percentage (.329), but they did not take full advantage of their baserunners and contact, finishing eighth in slugging (.417) and sixth in average with runners in scoring position (.260).
It didn’t make sense for the entire season, which is possibly why Mattingly stated, “Honestly, it doesn’t matter what happened last year.” As I take on this responsibility, my goal is to bring everything together and provide consistency. Talks are being had with our players. They need to communicate with you about their hunting and endeavors so that you can assist them in making plans for the evening. They have a loud voice.
A year ago, Dave Hudgens, who was moved to the minor leagues, handled strategy and Martinez took care of the fundamentals. Mattingly, for the most part, kept in his lane because he wanted to honor their positions and avoid confusing focus points.
However, he will now be initiating talks, which excites Justin Turner.
Turner’s first two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers were managed by Mattingly; while he wasn’t the hitting instructor, the experienced designated hitter recalls a number of meaningful chats about hitting.
“He understands. It’s done by him. He has performed it. He is knowledgeable on strategy, tactics, and game-planning. Thus, it’s simple to relate to and communicate with,” Turner added. It also helps that he has that instant respect because he is Don Mattingly. And it facilitates such discussions a little bit for him.
Turner thinks that another issue is how Mattingly takes the time to comprehend the mental processes of each player. The fact that different hitters interpret cues differently can make communication more difficult. Even if everyone is aiming toward the same destination, there can be significant differences in how different people hear and interpret the same information.
Turner remarked, “It’s crazy how three, four, or five people can be saying the same thing in different ways in this game.” Additionally, it just lands from certain guys and doesn’t land from others based on the nature of the relationship between the communicator and hitter. Because Donnie is Donnie and has experience, most of the time when he says something to males, they’re going to be like, “Okay, that makes sense.”
Mattingly is not a sucker for it.
He is aware of how challenging it can be for athletes to handle the deluge of information that becomes accessible throughout a season, particularly at times when recommendations can come from close friends and family, former coaches, and other acquaintances.
It is when the hitting coach-student relationship is most important.
“We simply want to maintain a more straightforward perspective on how we’re conducting business, ensuring that our strategy is sound and that we’re going after pitchers and attacking them,” Mattingly stated. And there can’t be just one method to do that.
Mattingly spoke to the hitters during a kick-off meeting earlier in the week before the team’s first full-squad practice. Bichette appreciated the message Mattingly was trying to convey as well as the manner “he had a little fire” during the meeting.
Bichette stated, “Overall, he just wants us to compete better, give up fewer at-bats, and have more of a plan every single day.” While acknowledging that some at-bats will be given away and that certain days you won’t play to your full potential will occur, you still need to come up to the field every day and set the expectation that our team will simply be challenging opponents to pitch to.
The Blue Jays should produce more at bat and wear down pitchers to the point of injury if they do that regularly enough. When it doesn’t, the intention is for nine innings of tough, competitive at-bats to take a toll on the opposing pitchers.
“How would you like to proceed with this guy? What goals do you have in mind? How do you intend to persuade him to come? Mattingly expressed his desire to see a certain approach in the batter’s box. “And then sticking with that.” Some men out there won’t cover every pitch, every region of the plate, or the entire zone. It is quite challenging. Thus, when we’re attempting to handle, we’re going to try to minimize. We will attempt to cover the areas where a batter is strongest, try to get the ball there, and get to work.