Fastball

Toronto Blue Jays Lose Former Player, Coach to Pittsburgh Pirates as Offseason Churns On

Matt Hague, who served as the Blue Jays assistant hitting coach this past season, has left for the Pirates organization.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Matt Hague during media day at ESPN Wide World of Sports Stadium in 2023.
Toronto Blue Matt Hague during media day at ESPN Wide World of Sports Stadium in 2023. / Toronto Blue Jays-Imagn Images
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Toronto Blue Jays assistant hitting coach Matt Hague has left the organization to become the hitting coach with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Scott Mitchell of TSN had the news on social media:

Per sources, Matt Hague is leaving #BlueJays to take Pittsburgh Pirates hitting coach job.
He was a popular guy with players and coaches, nice promotion for the 39-year-old.

According to MLBTradeRumors, Hague had been with the Jays as the assistant hitting coach in 2024. He had previously worked on the player development side, working with minor leaguers.

Hague briefly spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the Pirates and Jays, so he continues to work with the only professional relationships he's ever really known. In 43 career games, Hague was a .226 hitter with no home runs.

With Pittsburgh, he'll have an opportunity to work with some exciting players, including Bryan Reynolds, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz. The Jays have reorganized their hitting department this offseason as well, hiring David Popkins as their new hitting coach. He had previously worked with the Minnesota Twins.

Toronto went 74-88 this past season and finished last in the American League East. They are trying to strike this offseason to avoid that happening again and are seen as real competitors for Juan Soto in free agency.

The Jays will be the first team to meet with Soto in California and will look to pair with him with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the middle of the order. Both players just captured Silver Slugger Awards on Tuesday night.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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