Toronto Blue Jays bench coach and hitting strategist Dave Hudgens is drawing the ire of the team's fanbase after expressing his far-right views on social media — so much so that the 66-year-old has restricted access to his X (formerly Twitter) account.

Just moments before the Jays' Aug. 18 game versus the Cincinnati Reds, Hudgens fired off a post picking a fight with another X user over an article about U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Blue Jays’ hitting strategist MAGAtweeting 10 minutes before his team’s game starts. pic.twitter.com/Z1NY8dxdas

— Eephus Curve (@eephusasher) August 19, 2023

The post itself, while it may anger those who disagree, is fairly typical discourse on the Elon-owned platform these days. But it was the timing of the reply — minutes to a ballgame with Hudgens possibly even in uniform at the time — that got fans talking.

So true, four minutes before first pitch Dave Hudgens https://t.co/DgOdcp9HQX

— bk (@_bkuh_) August 19, 2023

The timing of the post roughly lines up with the singing of the U.S. anthem, which would further challenge Hudgens' patriotic MAGA brand.

I think it’s funny that “patriot” Dave Hudgens was tweeting likely during the American National Anthem last night

— Paul Ross (@RealPaulRoss) August 19, 2023

With his mentions going berserk, Hudgens later changed his X account settings to 'protected', only allowing approved followers to view his content.

The internet doesn't forget. https://t.co/ToovxS41yd pic.twitter.com/8Xug7c3nBq

— Joshua (@JoshuaHowsam) August 19, 2023

This may have been a miscalculation, only further driving demand for screenshots of even earlier tweets.

pic.twitter.com/ongvy6Da5a

— Danny (@Middaughsome) August 19, 2023

Meanwhile, the Jays' bats were nowhere to be found during the Aug. 18 game, the team blanked 1-0 by the Reds.

Dave Hudgens: Yelling at Chuck Schumer on Twitter

Vladdy: Hey man, uh, a little help here? pic.twitter.com/AEqDvTSCKE

— Robin (@joyeful) August 19, 2023

Though this situation is a far cry from the high-profile Anthony Bass debacle of May-June, it has fans openly pondering if the team will step in to discipline Hudgens.

I think it is time Hudgens finds another line of work! Maybe he should concentrate on doing his job first!

— Dave Rubinstein (@Rubyjays) August 19, 2023

If that were to happen, I'd wager that it would be on account of the timing, rather than the content of the posts themselves.

*another man fired

— Not Vex as in 🏳️‍🌈, but Vex as in 🏳️‍🌈 (@The_Terroirist) August 19, 2023

Regardless of the outcome, access to Hudgens' controversial tweets is now limited to his audience of just over 7k approved followers, creating an instant market for accounts who have access to the unfiltered hitting coach.

Selling my Twitter account followed Dave Hudgens for 500$ lmk pic.twitter.com/i1hRxjJwcR

— Noah (@bakerthejaysfan) August 20, 2023

Hudgens is a former first baseman who appeared in just six MLB games for the Oakland Athletics in 1983, closing out his career with a dismal .143 batting average.

If his atrocious MLB stats weren't a black mark on his career, Hudgens' served as a hitting coach for the 2017 World Series-winning Houston Astros, who cheated in a notorious sign-stealing scandal.

He later apologized for his role in the scandal, though nobody on the 2017 Astros seemed in a rush to give back their fraudulently-earned, sport-tarnishing championship rings.

Hudgens' social media activity is only the latest window into what appears to be a prevalent school of alt-right thinking in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

In June, the organization DFAd relief pitcher Anthony Bass after the pitcher shared a hateful anti-LGBTQS+ Instagram post — but not before an eleven-day PR disaster of a media circus where the team faced harsh criticism from outraged fans.

Days after Bass was ousted from the organization, it was discovered that another Jays reliever, Zach Pop, was following the same Instagram account that led to Bass' downfall, as well as several other far-right pages espousing some pretty messed up ideals.

Another Jays reliever, Adam Cimber, was forced to delete almost decade-old tweets dredged up by fans earlier this year after the pitcher blew a relief outing in a high-leverage situation. Among the deleted tweets was a 2014 post saying "#AllLivesMatter," a statement often used by groups attempting to undercut the Black Lives Matter movement.

Anthony Bass is not the only Toronto Blue Jay following hateful social media accounts https://t.co/3ISdGKTj8b #Toronto #BlueJays

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 12, 2023

Ties with the alt-right run even deeper, like the time that members of the Rogers family posed with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Jays' second baseman Whit Merrifield made headlines for his vaccine hesitancy prior to joining the team, but appears to have since changed his tune.

At the end of the day, players, coaches, and the front office are allowed to believe whatever they want without facing the risk of repercussions.

That being said, the timing of a hitting coach getting into Twitter spats minutes before a game where his team registered just three hits and a donut on the scoreboard is not a good look.