David Popkins

[exeoud]

Best hitting coach in baseball doing it on the biggest stage. And the Twins made him look like the worst coach in baseball. This should be obvious to anyone now at this point that the players just suck and can't be developed/fixed and so does the front office that are bringing them in. Good thing we're moving on from them and starting fresh, oh wait...

[Vanimal46]

4 minutes ago, exeoud said:

Best hitting coach in baseball

How do we know this? It entirely depends on the talent he has to work with, no?

[Hrbowski]

Team hitting is generally a reflection of organizational philosophy that is the result of years of drafting/player development, not solely the work of the Major League hitting coach. 

[Vanimal46]

15 minutes ago, Hrbowski said:

Team hitting is generally a reflection of organizational philosophy that is the result of years of drafting/player development, not solely the work of the Major League hitting coach. 

I kind of thought we already knew this but apparently not. Potential new manager James Rowson went from a hero as a HC in the Bomba Squad year to dud in Miami and Detroit. Now he's a stud again because he was HC for the Yankees.

[bean5302]

12 hours ago, Hrbowski said:

Team hitting is generally a reflection of organizational philosophy that is the result of years of drafting/player development, not solely the work of the Major League hitting coach. 

 

12 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

I kind of thought we already knew this but apparently not. Potential new manager James Rowson went from a hero as a HC in the Bomba Squad year to dud in Miami and Detroit. Now he's a stud again because he was HC for the Yankees.

Then no team should have a hitting coach by this kind of position. They don't matter. 

The hitting coach plays a fundamental role in aligning the organizational philosophy and talent with an action plan to get the most out of the talent. I think Popkins did exactly what Falvey asked of him, then he was essentially fired because the front office's hypothesis was poor. Not saying Popkins was the greatest ever or something, but he's certainly chucking eggs all over the faces of the Twins' management.

[tony&rodney]

Addison Barger mentioned the key contributions of Popkins in a post game interview last night. I tend to think most coaches are delivering similar tools. Some are better at listening and motivating and people generally do tend to improve at their jobs as well. 

The difference between players is usually quite small, but differences matter. While I would like to see the Twins in the 2026 World Series, the talent level doesn't seem up to the task. For right now, it isn't the coaches or manager but the players.

C) Smith, Kirk, Jeffers; 1B) Guerrero Jr., Freeman, Clemens; 2B) Bichette, Edman, Keaschall; 3B) Clement, Muncy, Lewis; SS) Betts, Jimenez, Lee; LF) Hernandez, Lukes, Martin; CF) Buxton, Varsho, Pages; RF) Hernandez, Barger, Wallner; DH) Ohtani, Springer, Larnach. The comparisons are not pretty. 

[Pykkman]

It does seem like the Twins moved on from at least a good hitting coach.  I seem to remember that Correa was impressed with Popkins.   Who made the call to fire him?  Falvey?  Or did Baldelli lobby the front office for a new face?     Anyway, not a good look for the organization.   

 

[Vanimal46]

5 hours ago, bean5302 said:

 

Then no team should have a hitting coach by this kind of position. They don't matter. 

The hitting coach plays a fundamental role in aligning the organizational philosophy and talent with an action plan to get the most out of the talent. I think Popkins did exactly what Falvey asked of him, then he was essentially fired because the front office's hypothesis was poor. Not saying Popkins was the greatest ever or something, but he's certainly chucking eggs all over the faces of the Twins' management.

They obviously play a role on the team. It’s much easier to find success with better players. I could hire Scottie Scheffler’s swing coach but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be the #1 golfer in the world

[stringer bell]

I just don’t think a coach makes much difference for the great  majority of major league players. If a coach works hard doing what they do most can be a small positive in developing and improving players, but 99% falls on the player. Popkins and James Rowson have seen their teams improve and they’ve both seen their teams fail to improve in other seasons. Did they work harder or smarter in “good” seasons? I doubt it.

To broaden my point, was Rocco Baldelli smarter in 2019 an 2023? Much of coaches and managers fate is out of their hands. 

[big dog]

On 10/25/2025 at 12:05 PM, tony&rodney said:

Addison Barger mentioned the key contributions of Popkins in a post game interview last night. I tend to think most coaches are delivering similar tools. Some are better at listening and motivating and people generally do tend to improve at their jobs as well. 

The difference between players is usually quite small, but differences matter. While I would like to see the Twins in the 2026 World Series, the talent level doesn't seem up to the task. For right now, it isn't the coaches or manager but the players.

C) Smith, Kirk, Jeffers; 1B) Guerrero Jr., Freeman, Clemens; 2B) Bichette, Edman, Keaschall; 3B) Clement, Muncy, Lewis; SS) Betts, Jimenez, Lee; LF) Hernandez, Lukes, Martin; CF) Buxton, Varsho, Pages; RF) Hernandez, Barger, Wallner; DH) Ohtani, Springer, Larnach. The comparisons are not pretty. 

Ohtani, Springer, Larnach... yeah, I'd say we are not in a position of strength there.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I was way too hard on Popkins. He wasn't the issue. The Twins' anemic performances at the plate are systemic. Not sure what they actually teach in the lower levels, but whatever it is, it's not working.

[exeoud]

On 10/24/2025 at 9:53 PM, Vanimal46 said:

How do we know this? It entirely depends on the talent he has to work with, no?

The Blue Jays are about to set the record for most runs in a postseason while giving a fair share of at bats to Myles Straw and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Barger, Clement, Gimenez, Lukes, Schneider, Varsho aren't world beaters either. Vlad Jr and Springer, yeah I'll give you those.

[FlyingFinn]

On 10/25/2025 at 12:59 PM, Pykkman said:

It does seem like the Twins moved on from at least a good hitting coach.  I seem to remember that Correa was impressed with Popkins.   Who made the call to fire him?  Falvey?  Or did Baldelli lobby the front office for a new face?     Anyway, not a good look for the organization.

I think most fans on TD agreed with firing Popkins (or at least didn't think it was unjustified, like me) as the production seemed to decrease from the Rowson days to the Popkin days. I don't remember many, if any, saying the Twins would regret firing him. But if Popkins is a good hitting coach, kudos to Falvey for seeing that and hiring him, and blame for firing him. It sure didn't take Popkins long to get another job.

[Mike Sixel]

People here begged for him to be fired.....begged. 

[Fatbat]

Popkins is a fine coach. He just watched Louis Varland get 4 batters out in game 6 of the World Series. His guys have had a great post season run. Anyone bashing him now is just ignorant. 

[old nurse]

On 10/30/2025 at 10:45 AM, exeoud said:

The Blue Jays are about to set the record for most runs in a postseason while giving a fair share of at bats to Myles Straw and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Barger, Clement, Gimenez, Lukes, Schneider, Varsho aren't world beaters either. Vlad Jr and Springer, yeah I'll give you those.

Perhaps you ought to look up how the offense has done all year with the non world beaters before running yer keyboard. While it is an accomplishment to score the most runs, it is helpful for that total to have played the second most games ever,  

[old nurse]

On 10/25/2025 at 10:55 AM, bean5302 said:

 

Then no team should have a hitting coach by this kind of position. They don't matter. 

The hitting coach plays a fundamental role in aligning the organizational philosophy and talent with an action plan to get the most out of the talent. I think Popkins did exactly what Falvey asked of him, then he was essentially fired because the front office's hypothesis was poor. Not saying Popkins was the greatest ever or something, but he's certainly chucking eggs all over the faces of the Twins' management.

Well, your thinking is based on bias but that is ok.. You need to chuck eggs

[old nurse]

8 hours ago, Fatbat said:

Popkins is a fine coach. He just watched Louis Varland get 4 batters out in game 6 of the World Series. His guys have had a great post season run. Anyone bashing him now is just ignorant. 

Nobody appears to be bashing him. If anything there is glorification of him.

[big dog]

On 10/31/2025 at 9:31 PM, Fatbat said:

Popkins is a fine coach. He just watched Louis Varland get 4 batters out in game 6 of the World Series. His guys have had a great post season run. Anyone bashing him now is just ignorant. 

Maybe anyone giving the hitting coach credit for the performance of a reliever is just ignorant...or maybe I just missed the point of Varland vis a vis Popkins.

[exeoud]

On 11/1/2025 at 5:49 AM, old nurse said:

Perhaps you ought to look up how the offense has done all year with the non world beaters before running yer keyboard. While it is an accomplishment to score the most runs, it is helpful for that total to have played the second most games ever,  

Toronto offense during the regular season out of 30 teams:

Batting Average - #1

On Base Percentage - #1

Slugging Percentage - #7

OPS - #3

[old nurse]

53 minutes ago, exeoud said:

Toronto offense during the regular season out of 30 teams:

Batting Average - #1

On Base Percentage - #1

Slugging Percentage - #7

OPS - #3

That has absolutely nothing to do with the Twins other than to say  that they need better players. 

[Fatbat]

23 hours ago, big dog said:

Maybe anyone giving the hitting coach credit for the performance of a reliever is just ignorant...or maybe I just missed the point of Varland vis a vis Popkins.

Popkins and Varland both got ran out of town. I gave them both kudos because they are x twins, with both accomplishing more right after they left here than this FO ever thought they would.  English can be a tough language…..

[big dog]

4 hours ago, Fatbat said:

Popkins and Varland both got ran out of town. I gave them both kudos because they are x twins, with both accomplishing more right after they left here than this FO ever thought they would.  English can be a tough language…..

Got it. Messages posted above do suggest that Popkins seemed to have quite a bit more talent in Toronto, but I do think he got a raw deal from the Twins.

Varland's team accomplished a lot more, and he was part of it. Really glad he got a ring.

However, it seems like he pitched quite a bit better with the Twins than with the Jays.

                         Era/FIP

Twins, 2025: 2.02/2.93

Jays, regular season: 4.94/3.56

Jays, playoffs:  3.94/5.01

[farmerguychris]

It just seems sketchy to me.  Popkins did fine with the Dodgers before we hired him.  He did better than fine with the Jays after we let him go.

While our talent may not be at the level of either of those teams, we aren't dirt either.

I suspect the Front Office told him what he should be coaching the players to do during their at bats.  This basically took away what Popkins has proven he can do.  I believe the FO micromanaged him to fail here.

No evidence of this - just my theory.