Pete Maki Not Returning As Twins' Pitching Coach

The Minnesota Twins are shaking up their pitching staff from a leadership perspective.

Pitching coach Pete Maki and assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez will not return to the Twins for 2027. It is not known whether one or either was under contract for next season. One more change is athletic trainer Jason Kirkman will not return after seven seasons with the franchise.

No other changes are expected to the Twins' coaching staff.

Maki took over as the Twins' pitching coach in July 2022 following the sudden departure of Wes Johnson, who became the pitching coach in college at LSU. Maki had been in the Twins' organization since 2018 in a variety of roles and was on the major-league staff when the 2022 change happened.

Ramirez has been in the org since 2006, spending the last five years of his 21-year tenure as the major-league assistant pitching coach.

The Twins finished 25th this season in ERA at 4.56 in what was expected to be a rebuilding season, particularly in the bullpen, but with a handful of quality returning starters led by Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez. They finished 24th in ERA in 2025 (4.55) and 21st in 2024 (4.26) after ranking sixth in 2023 (3.87).