Montoyo rounding out the coaching staff

[dagger]

1. Pete Walker and Luis Rivera are back
2. Guillermo Martinez is the new hitting coach. That's an internal promotion. Martinez has been the Jays' minor league hitting coordinator.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-promoting-guillermo-martinez-new-hitting-coach/

[Black Watch]

Don't forget our new bench coach.

[polo007]

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“What stands out to me is his ability to connect with different types of players,” Montoyo said in a telephone interview. “I was calling our position players and every time I told them who the hitting coach was going to be, they got really excited."

“Guillermo is so humble. His people skills allow him to interact with all of the different players and with the coaches. He’s passionate about using his knowledge to help players become better hitters. I’m really excited about him. He’s just a great kid.”

A great kid.

That sounds like the way veteran coaches talk about callow prospects. And in a way, Guillermo Martinez is indeed a prospect.

But in the past year, he put himself on the coaching fast track, impressing the deep thinkers in the front office and, in a matter of days, the new manager as well. Montoyo said he and Martinez talk on the phone almost daily, discussing their hopes and dreams and plans for spring training.

Martinez gets rave reviews for the way he connects with young hitters. He embraces modern metrics and translates them well to his trainees. Born in Nicaragua and raised in Miami, he speaks all three essential languages – English, Spanish and baseball. He is young, which meshes with the trend of the Blue Jays’ reconstituted roster. He has worked with many of the club’s up-and-comers, from Danny Jansen to Vlad Guerrero Jr.

“Those guys that got to the big leagues this year, I was (coaching) in rookie ball with them,” he said. “We’re all going to the big leagues together. It’s awesome.”

Oh yes, and he also has a World Series ring.

[phillipmike]

Manager: Charlie Montoyo
Bench Coach: Dave Hudgens
Hitting Coach: Guillermo Martinez
Pitching Coach: Pete Walker
Bullpen Coach: Matt Buschmann
First base Coach: Mark Budzinski
Third base Coach: Luis Rivera

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[dagger]

John Schneider has been added to the Jays staff as a "Major League Coach"

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[polo007]

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When the Blue Jays GM and his new manager set out to build their 2019 coaching staff, Atkins said they sought out individuals who are open-minded, especially with respect to innovative thinking and new technology that is increasingly present in baseball today. They were also looking for people willing to collaborate with their staff.

“The two things that we were pushing very hard on were collaboration and open-mindedness,” Atkins said during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.

While the Blue Jays brought back pitching coach Pete Walker and third base coach Luis Rivera, who were on former manager John Gibbons’ staff, four of the team’s new coaches arrive via other major-league organizations: Dave Hudgens, (Houston Astros), first base coach Mark Budzinski (Cleveland Indians) bullpen coach Matt Buschmann (San Francisco Giants) and major league field co-ordinator Shelley Duncan (Arizona Diamondbacks.) (Fun fact: Both Buschmann and Duncan played for the 2013 Durham Bulls, who were managed by Montoyo.)

“I think that is a benefit, for sure, to learn from different approaches and different organizations, but it wasn’t necessarily a goal of ours,” Atkins said when asked if it was important to bring in perspectives from other clubs."

The team rounded out their major-league staff with the internal promotions of Guillermo Martinez and John Schneider. Martinez, who will be the team’s hitting coach, spent last season as Toronto’s hitting co-ordinator. Schneider has been with the organization for 11 years. He has managed at multiple minor-league levels, most recently in Double-A, where he led the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to the Eastern League championship in September.

Schneider was promoted to the role of “major league coach,” and despite the most generic of titles, his role will actually specifically involve him working primarily with the Blue Jays’ catchers, in terms of development, mental approach and game-planning. His job could also involve travelling to the team’s affiliates to work with catchers at the lower levels, Atkins said. The 38-year-old, who spent six seasons as a minor-league catcher before transitioning to coaching, will also assist Martinez with the offence.

“There was a clear opportunity for us and John Schneider was a great fit,” said Atkins of Schneider, who has worked with a number of the organization’s younger players such as Ryan Borucki, Danny Jansen and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. “His existing relationships, his understanding of the integration of analytics, the integration of performance data into helping young players was attractive to us.”

[SharoneWright]

Jays did right thing here with Schneider.

[Black Watch]

More teams hiring managers with front office exposure

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[Black Watch]

I see the Jays going for a Dodgers-meet-Rays approach of platooning, limiting the starter's trips through the order, and using the 10-day DL as a roster fluctuation mechanism to keep everyone fresh (hence all the depth we've acquired).