Blue Jays unveil 2024 coaching staff, with a few new faces

TORONTO -- A trio of new faces will join manager John Schneider’s coaching staff in 2024.

The Blue Jays announced their full staff on Friday, a list highlighted by Matt Hague as the club’s new assistant hitting coach, Carlos Febles as the new third-base coach and John Lannan, who will occupy the mental performance post.

Here’s the full coaching staff:

Manager: John Schneider
Bench coach and offensive coordinator: Don Mattingly
Associate manager: DeMarlo Hale
Pitching coach: Pete Walker
Hitting coach: Guillermo Martinez
First-base coach: Mark Budzinski
Third-base coach: Carlos Febles
Assistant pitching coach (bullpen): Jeff Ware
Assistant pitching coach (strategy): David Howell
Assistant hitting coach: Hunter Mense
Assistant hitting coach: Matt Hague
Field coordinator: Gil Kim
Major League mental performance coach: John Lannan

Highly regarded by the Blue Jays’ front office, Hague has been with the organization since 2020 as a Minor League hitting coach, first at Class A Advanced Dunedin and later with Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo. His promotion to the Major League level -- which GM Ross Atkins had already announced on Jan. 3 -- comes after the Blue Jays delivered a suboptimal offensive performance last season.

Since the end of 2023, Atkins has spoken more than once about improving the process and the communication methods the club utilizes with its hitters when it comes to strategy.

Part of the challenge for Hague and returning hitting coach Guillermo Martinez, as well as bench coach Don Mattingly, will be to reimagine those aspects. Hague’s body of work at the Minor League level offers hope for that endeavor.

“We’re focused on improving our process,” Atkins said. “As the league has adjusted to us, we need to adjust back. Of course, we were working to do so last year, and just continue that work over the course of this offseason. … [Hague] has had incredible success with a lot of our Major League and player-development hitters. So [I'm] feeling really good about the staffing structure and the process to best support them.”

Dave Hudgens, Toronto’s hitting strategist for the past two seasons, isn’t listed as part of the 2024 staff.

The mental performance position isn’t a new one, but it wasn’t listed as a Major League post last year. Lannan, who has been with the Blue Jays for five seasons, held a similar role at Single-A and Triple-A in previous years. He also worked in support of rehabbing players at the club’s Player Development Complex in Dunedin, Fla.

The need for a new third-base coach emerged when Luis Rivera, who had held the position for 10 seasons, retired at the end of last year. He is replaced by Febles, who was hired in November after six years with the Red Sox.