Blue Jays hire new hitting coach David Popkins

After the way the Toronto Blue Jays' offense looked this year, the team finally decided to do something about the stale bats. As part of the late-season house-cleaning, news broke on Sept. 30 that they had fired Guillermo Martinez, who had been the MLB hitting coach for six seasons.

Just weeks later, the Blue Jays have found Martinez's replacement. Per the team's announcement on Monday afternoon, former Minnesota Twins hitting coach David Popkins has been hired as the team’s new hitting coach.

Blue Jays hire new hitting coach David Popkins

Popkins, 34, took over as the Twins’ hitting coach in 2022 but was let go earlier this month (subscription required) per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Hailing from San Diego, Popkins has also previously coached with the Great Lake Loons, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Midwest League.

After another season fraught with struggles at the plate, the Blue Jays will look to Popkins to help turn the offense around. The 2024 Jays finished 23rd in runs scored with 671 and 18th with a .703 OPS. The offense had declined over the past two years since 2022, when Toronto scored the fourth-most runs in the majors with 775.

Over the past two seasons, the Twins' offense ranked fifth in the American League in runs scored and on-base percentage while ranking third with 416 home runs and fourth in slugging percentage. An interesting note is that while Minnesota had the fifth-highest strikeout rate in the AL over the two years, Twins hitters also walked at the fourth-highest clip, tied with the Blue Jays.

"David's ability to game plan and connect with players in different ways is a really exciting addition to our coaching staff," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, per the team's release. "He's a true expert in all types of hitting information and will help our offensive strategy for each game. We're looking forward to the instant impact of his relentless work ethic."

At the time of writing, the Blue Jays had not released details about Popkins' contract with the club.