Blue Jays hire David Popkins as hitting coach
The Toronto Blue Jays have a new hitting coach. The team announced on Monday afternoon that they’ve hired David Popkins for the role.
Popkins spent the past three years as the hitting coach of the Minnesota Twins and was among four coaches let go after the team missed the playoffs this season. The dismissal of Popkins from Rocco Baldelli’s staff in Minnesota came as a surprise considering the positive reviews he received from players on the Twins.
“Definitely learned a lot about my swing, learned a lot about my approach, learned a lot about just the game in general,” Carlos Correa said back in September. “Popkins, the hitting coach, helped me understand myself a little better.“A .900 OPS for some people comes with homers and walks. For me, it comes with being a little more creative and he helped me understand that I don’t have to hit a home run every at-bat. Pop has been a huge help for me, and I’m grateful that I came to this organization and he was my hitting coach.”
Born in San Diego, Popkins played for the University of California-Davis Aggies. He was passed over in the MLB Draft and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he would spent three seasons between rookie ball and Double-A.
After a few seasons playing Independent League ball, Popkins joined the Los Angeles Dodgers organization as a hitting coach for their rookie league team in Arizona. He was named the hitting coach of the Great Lakes Loons, the Dodgers’ High-A affiliate, ahead of the 2021 season and the team posted a collective .800 on-base plus slugging percentage with 187 homers, leading their league in both categories.
It was after that season with the Loons that Popkins joined the Twins. In Popkins’ first year as the team’s hitting coach, Minnesota scored 4.30 runs per game in 2022 with a .718 OPS, numbers just above the league average. The Twins improved to 4.80 runs per game with a .753 OPS in 2023 but dipped down to 4.58 runs per game and a .726 OPS in 2024.
With the Blue Jays, Popkins will fill into a role previously held by Guillermo Martinez, who was let go after Toronto’s disastrous 2024 performance. Also on Toronto’s staff when it comes to the team’s offence are hitting coaches Hunter Mense and Matt Hague, along with bench coach Don Mattingly, who operated as an offensive coordinator for the team last season.
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