A familiar face will be in the Toledo Mud Hens’ dugout this season, and he is looking forward to working again in a city that has meant so much to him.
Mike Hessman, a former Toledo slugger who spent the past year and a half as an assistant hitting coach for the Detroit Tigers, is back as the Mud Hens’ hitting coach after holding the position in 2019 and the first half of the 2021 season.
“Extremely excited,” Hessman said during the team’s media day on Tuesday at Fifth Third Field.
“Obviously, the playing career that I’ve had here and just the history throughout the city, the history with the Tigers and stuff, so it’s a great opportunity to come back and be part of something special and help these guys get to the next level. So really looking forward to this year.”
Hessman, who set the minor league record for career home runs after hitting his 433rd blast in a 2015 game with the Mud Hens, said he benefited from his time on the Tigers’ staff. He took over as the interim assistant hitting coach in June, 2021, before being hired as the permanent assistant before the 2022 campaign.
Although last season didn’t go the way Hessman and the team wanted, he is motivated to help those achieve their dreams of playing in MLB.
Shortly after the Tigers completed the 2022 season in which they finished 66-96, manager A.J. Hinch announced a series of coaching changes that included hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh not being back with the team. Hinch also said Hessman was among a couple coaches who were offered minor league jobs, and the Mud Hens announced in mid-January that he was returning as hitting coach.
“We have great staff up there, great people up there. Obviously, things didn’t turn out how we wanted to last year, but definitely can learn from it and move on and try to build off of it,” Hessman said. “But, thankful for the opportunity, especially to be up there on a part of A.J.’s staff and learn from one of the greatest that’s managing right now.
“Definitely blessed to be able to say that I was up there to be able to do that. Obviously, would love to get back at some point, but excited to be down here with this young group, mixed in with a couple veteran guys, as well.”
Hessman’s knowledge of the game will be beneficial not only to the players, but first-year manager Anthony Iapoce. Hessman, who played professional baseball for 20 years, including five stints in the majors, has also been a hitting coach with several other minor league organizations after retiring from playing in 2015.
“Having him on the staff, and the players love him, he’s always going to be there, he works his butt off,” Iapoce said. “But his knowledge of the game is what impresses me the most about him, and all the home runs he hit is pretty impressive, as well.
“And he’s got his name on that field, that’s another impressive thing. So he’s a pretty impressive guy, I’d have to say. But I’m excited to be working alongside him every day, so he’s going to help me out tremendously.”
Mud Hens’ outfielder Brendon Davis, who appeared in 103 games for Toledo last season, said having someone in the coaching staff with the pedigree of Hessman means a lot.
“He’s one of the best I’ve been around. He’s done it, which is crazy. It’s not every day you get a hitting coach that has done stuff that you want to do,” Davis said. “And the way he helps, the way he works with the guys, it’s pretty cool to see.
“He’s going to do anything in his power to get you right, even in spring training, just taking notes on how we feel and what we want to feel and stuff like that. So he’s going to be well prepared to help every guy on this team.”
Hessman has been busy building relationships with his players and fellow coaches. He said he has been impressed with the players’ attitudes and energy level ahead of the regular season opener, which will be at 4:05 p.m. Friday against the St. Paul Saints at Fifth Third Field.
“Just a great kind of mix between some young, exciting guys, and guys that have been around,” he said.
First Published March 28, 2023, 6:35 p.m.
