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The Twins hired David Popkins as hitting coach after the 2021 season. At the time, he was as a 31-year-old with no experience coaching above Single-A. It's possible, and maybe even likely, that whomever the team hires as his replacement will be similarly obscure to most fans, so in a way it feels pointless to speculate about his potential successor.
But then again, we've got a long offseason ahead of us. And the decision on how to move forward with this role is worthy of some discussion, given that it's very possibly the most significant leadership change we'll see made by the Twins as a result of the embarrassing collapse that took place over the past six weeks of the Twins season.
The offense played a leading role in this collapse, and so Popkins takes the fall (along with assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon). For a third time in five years, the Twins are on the hunt for a new hitting coach--hopefully one who will oversee a more self-actualizing and less slump-prone offensive unit in the years ahead.
Sizing up the current coaching landscape, here are a few names worth thinking about as the front office starts its search.
Hensley Meulens
The Curaçao native has been around the game for a long time, with a diverse track record that includes time spent playing the major leagues, Nippon Professional Baseball the KBO League. He's nearly landed manager jobs multiple times over the years, including interviewing for the Twins job that eventually went to Rocco Baldelli.
In his most recent stops, Meulens served as assistant hitting coach for the Yankees in 2022 before graduating to the head hitting coach job in Colorado, which he's held for the past two years. The Rockies haven't been good offensively during that span, but it's hard to say whether that has anything to do with Meulens.
Coming to Minnesota would be a lateral move, role-wise, but he might welcome the chance to join a team with contention aspirations, plus some interesting young hitting talent. If the Twins are looking to swing the opposite direction of the inexperienced young Popkins, the 57-year-old Meulens would make a lot of sense.
Johnny Washington
Named by FanGraphs as an up-and-comer in a recent piece highlighting potential managerial candidates, Washington just wrapped up his first year as hitting coach for the Los Angeles Angels. Previously he was assistant hitting coach for the Cubs, and before that, a hitting coach for the KBO League's Hanwha Eagles. Clearly multiple teams like what they're seeing in the way he works with hitters.
"Some of [the Cubs'] best hitters over the past couple of years have credited Washington with helping to improve their games," wrote Sam Blum in an article for The Athletic last December after the Halos hired Washington.
As with Meulens, coming to the Twins would represent a lateral move for Washington, but a chance to escape from a cellar-dwelling organization and perhaps make his name with some visible successes. One thing that seems clear is that any incoming hitting coach will have a chance to look really good if a few of Minnesota's talented young hitters can rebound.
One interesting thing to note about Washington is that he was originally hired as a coach by the Dodgers, and in 2014 was a coach for the same Great Lakes Loons team that Popkins was hired from by the Twins.
Dillon Lawson
Lawson was hitting coach for the Yankees up until they let him go midway through last season, as their offense struggled to get going in the first half. At the time, I wrote about the parallels between Lawson and Popkins: both hired by their respective teams around the same time, young, with no experience playing or coaching in the major leagues. Both were also students of analytics, espousing similar philosophies.
If the Twins feel that they were on the right track fundamentally with the Popkins hire, but maybe he was just wasn't exactly the right guy, then Lawson could be someone of interest as an alternative of the same ilk. He's currently a hitting coordinator in the Red Sox system and might jump at the opportunity to step back into a top big-league job.
Nelson Cruz
After retiring last offseason, Cruz was named in May as a consultant to MLB in a new role as Special Advisor for Baseball Operations. I hope he's enjoying the gig. But if he wants to get back into the game at the ground level, he'd be an interesting fit as hitting coach for the Twins, for whom he was a cherished fixture and leader from 2019 through half of 2021.
He obviously lacks formal coaching experience, so freshly removed from his playing days, but Cruz has the advantage of a peer-like presence, able to connect with players in unique ways. He famously had a mentor-like vibe during his seasons with the Twins. Notably, Cruz was well known for the way he maintained and managed his body, enabling him to keep producing at an elite level into his 40s. For a lineup that roundly ran out of gas and broke down late in the 2024 season, it's easy to see how that particular quality might be appealing.
Let's here your thoughts and ideas! Do any of these names appeal to you? Is there anyone else out there you'd like to see the Twins pursue in their search for a new hitting coach?
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