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May 2022 The Athletic Twins hitting coach David Popkins is ‘the real deal’ despite lack of experience FORT MYERS, FL- MARCH 22: Hitting coach David Popkins #79 looks on prior to a spring training game against the Atlanta Braves on March 22, 2022 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) By Dan Hayes May 26, 2022 14 Save Article When they hired him last November, the Twins wanted hitting coach David Popkins to provide new ideas in what they believe to be an ever-changing landscape. Following a historically slow start to the 2022 season, Twins hitters appear to like the message they’re hearing from Popkins, 32. Whether it’s the new practice techniques he implemented, how he breaks down analytical information and scouting reports or the individually tailored plans he provided, Popkins has made a strong first impression on Twins hitters. “It’s all we need,” outfielder Max Kepler said. “(Popkins) knows when you have a certain type of player that is more of a feel hitter and doesn’t need all of the detailed analytics and numbers, mechanics — he has a good feel for each guy. “You have to work with what you have in the present. He’s aware of that. That’s what works for me. For some other guys, they might like to lean on 2020, ’19, wherever they had the most success. But I try and work with what I have and he’s open to doing that.” Popkins’ personal experience has taught him to be open-minded. Hoping to limit struggles during his own minor-league playing career, Popkins worked with six different hitting specialists who’d had success with both major- and minor-league clients. He started with longtime hitting specialist and Dodgers consultant Craig Wollenbrock and current Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc. He later went to Driveline Baseball and worked with Philadelphia Phillies minor-league instructor Jason Ochart. Then he kept searching. “It just came from failing in my own career and diving in and trying to find what was the right solutions,” said Popkins, who played six professional seasons. “I went to a lot of the gurus. “I noticed nothing was the same.” Last October, the Twins re-assigned Edgar Varela, who’d been their hitting coach for two seasons, and began to search for a guru of their own. A month later, Popkins was hired. Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said recent advancements in hitting are similar to the tectonic shift Major League Baseball experienced with pitching. Rather than get left behind, the Twins want to be at the forefront of those changes and believe Popkins, who only had one previous season as a minor-league hitting coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers, could help bring them about. “Hitting has accelerated in a way in the last 12 to 24 months at the major league level,” Falvey said. “Your players are expecting to have some of those resources, have people that know how to use that information, how to translate it for them. I remember I had this conversation five to seven years ago about pitching, and now all of a sudden we’re here on hitting. It’s the same thing on the other side. … “He’s really an up-and-comer.” In the first two weeks of the season, the Twins offense labored intensely and produced historic lows. That wasn’t the impression Popkins had hoped to make. He’d been brought in to overhaul the program. Instead, the Twins limped out of the gate. The club’s 51 hits were the fewest in team history through nine games. The Twins were shut out twice and scored three or fewer runs six times. They were only averaging 3.2 runs per game. Popkins didn’t panic. He had already experienced this in 2021 with the High-A Great Lakes Loons. Early on, the most prolific offense in Great Lakes history looked like a dud, including being dismantled during the opening week of the season by Dayton. How Dragons pitchers attacked during that opening series was counter to what was expected. Loons hitters were unprepared and overmatched. “They kicked our butts,” Great Lakes manager Austin Chubb said. “A lot of backwards type pitching, soft stuff when they’re behind in the count.” The Loons struggled for the first half of May. But nothing was worse than the stretch against Dayton, which won five of six games. Popkins had drawn up scouting reports based on 18-month-old information because he had nothing else. No games had been played since 2019. Dayton’s pitching style had completely changed. Over six games, Great Lakes produced 16 runs on 23 hits while striking out 64 times. They finished 5-for-33 with runners in scoring position. “That was a very big wake-up call,” Popkins said. “We were using a lot of the stuff from 2019, a lot of the pitch characteristics and shapes. … With the ride and how much off-speed they were using that whole series, it was just time to make an adjustment. We had a certain swing plane the Dodgers believe in and it’s great. There’s a lot of things it helps and it still was used. But there needed to be some calibrations to cover the new style of pitching.” Adjustments were made. Eventually, the Loons heated up. Popkins watched video of Dayton’s pitchers to prep for their next meeting a month later. He even watched the catchers to see what they preferred. Great Lakes scored 34 runs over six games when the teams met again in June. The powerful display hinted at the summer to come. Great Lakes averaged 5.8 runs per game and blasted a franchise-record 187 home runs, smashing the old mark with weeks to go in the season. “The next time we got them we were ready,” Chubb said. “His ability to make adjustments and to deliver the message to the players was really impressive.” So even as the Twins failed to push across early runs, Popkins remained confident. The Twins were near the top of baseball in hard-hit rate, exit velocity and pitches seen over the first few weeks of the season. The results weren’t there, but the underlying numbers kept the Twins from panicking. “David’s doing a great job,” Baldelli said in April. “He’s focusing on the preparation. He’s focusing on having the right types of conversations with the players, getting guys in a good frame of mind to hit when the game starts.” A month later, the Twins have started to hit. Though they’ve been dogged by injuries to key performers and inconsistent weather, the first-place Twins entered Thursday fourth in the American League in OPS and sixth in runs. The offense increased its OPS from .688 in April to .733 in May, which has led to nearly a half run more scored per game. “We started like dead last (in 2021),” Popkins said of parallels between the teams. “It was bad. Struck out a lot. We were not even close to being a good offense (early). I learned last year that the season’s very long. Those underlying principles are actually more important than coming out, making a huge bang.” The Twins are utilizing new equipment. The drills employed in batting practice and the cage have a distinct look. The information has been delivered with a different voice. And everything is individually tailored to each player. Outfielder Jake Cave said in spring training he liked how Popkins often drops helpful observations into their conversations, a quick tip and a compliment. He liked the new toys, too. “Heavy balls, heavy bat,” Cave said. “Working on some different angles to see some things, working on some different machines. “I’m not a guy who necessarily understands all the analytical stuff all the time. He’s brought some drills to me that I don’t have to think about that. It just kind of puts my body in the right position because of what I’m doing as opposed to thinking of it. That’s really big for me. “He comes up sometimes and says, ‘Hey, I saw this.’ It’s also a lot of positive reinforcement. I hear him talking to the guys. I’ve had (coaches) that just tell guys the things they did wrong the day before.” Byron Buxton overhauled and simplified his swing without the help of a coach during the 2018-19 offseason. His career has taken off since. Though he doesn’t spend much time talking mechanics, Popkins has other ways to help Buxton. “It’s more like what pitchers are going to try to do this year,” Buxton said. “Lot more technology. The spin rate, how much depth it got down, little meetings like that is kind of what we go through to figure out the pitching.” Popkins spent the entire offseason watching video of Twins hitters to get a sense of who they are. After his hire, Popkins called the players to establish an early line of communication. But he still had more than a few names on his call sheet when the lockout shut down MLB on Dec. 2. Forbidden to contact players, Popkins instead consumed more video. “I’ve taken some pretty deep dives,” Popkins said. “Watching every game, seeing everything, the story of the at-bat. Do they have fears of certain things? How would I attack them? Really trying to get in the mind of pitchers and see how they were exploiting some guys and maybe the limitation. After that I’ll go into isolating each guy and breaking down an individual plan for them. “Just have a menu of things that if they want it, it’ll be there.” When players finally arrived, you couldn’t wipe the smile off Popkins’ face. You also couldn’t find him. Whether it was standing behind the cage during batting practice, working with players in the indoor cages or breaking down video, Popkins was always on the move. “Obviously, (the lockout) made it tougher withholding something you’re addicted to,” Popkins said. “It’s been incredible. I don’t think I ever realized how good these guys are. … You set up some environments for them and they tend to dominate.” David Popkins works with outfielder Max Kepler. (Brace Hemmelgarn / Minnesota Twins) Chubb estimated Popkins spent up to 14 hours on days off devising scouting reports during his time with the Loons. Every Monday before a series began, Popkins spent the entire day writing reports on pitching staffs that were often 16-17 pitchers deep. “In the beginning it was very detailed, exactly what we needed to know about the pitcher,” Dodgers minor-league outfielder Ryan Ward said. “As the season grew and he learned us individually, he did an excellent job of being able to individualize the scouting reports. He would tell me what he knew that I needed to know that would help me succeed against every pitcher I was about to face.” But information isn’t all Popkins offers. Ward swears by his technical approach, too. Ward overhauled his swing last season and had a breakout campaign, hitting 27 homers after blasting only four in 2019. He credits Popkins for teaching him a hover move that allowed him to get more weight on his back leg as he went from no stride to adding a leg kick. Once they had the timing down, Ward needed help with his pregame routine. Popkins, of course, had plenty of ideas. “There’s no one way with him,” Ward said. “Pop’s real good with adjustability. We were trying to figure out a pregame routine that would lock me in. We started with some flips inside working in and out and on field with an away round. I said ‘I don’t feel like this is helping me.’ He’s very approachable. “We must have gone through three or four routines until we found one.” Popkins’ fascination with swing mechanics began during his playing career. An undrafted free agent out of Division I UC Davis, Popkins signed with St. Louis’ Gulf Coast League affiliate in June 2012. He was supposed to be there for a week. He lasted three seasons and played another three of independent ball, retiring after the 2017 season. Popkins’ minor-league career peaked when he reached Double A in 2014, quite the feat for a player who wasn’t drafted. He said his career taught him different paths exist for all players. There’s no one way. Popkins started to get a better understanding of swing mechanics when he started working with Wollenbrock in 2013. There, he learned the value of video. “I would watch for hours and I’d write, on a little notebook, similarities,” he said. “I was looking at the wrong things back then, but it was the right idea. ‘Knees pinched in. Back elbow leads.’ Now, I have a pretty good grasp of what I’m looking for and what needs to be aligned, where the angles need to be to match the plane of the incoming pitch.” Ahead of his 2017 season with independent Sioux Falls, Popkins went to Driveline and worked with Ochart. “I learned a lot about external focuses and some of the skill acquisition stuff they do there, which was great,” Popkins said. There were more trips to other specialists. While it gave Popkins a better understanding of hitting, the work never translated to on-field success. But as a coach, Popkins has all sorts of ideas. “It’s a lot of trial and error,” Popkins said. “You put yourself in positions in the mirror. You do a lot of practice reps. You do a lot of video reps and see what are the commonalities. When I’m hitting this pitch right, what am I doing? What’s misaligned when I’m not hitting it right? It’s kind of the same thing when you’re working with players as well. There’s certain commonalities and angles and alignments that happen when players are really successful on certain pitches.” Popkins thinks his college background in communication with a minor in psychology helps him relate to his hitters. He knows his own struggles as a hitter does. “I feel a little bit of their joy and I definitely feel their pain,” Popkins said. “That’s the thing that haunts me from my own career and gives me empathy for how hard this game is. … I have a pretty strong emotional connection to wanting to see that player succeed and be the best of his ability with his body and his mind.” Popkins understands his hitters may have their own external coaches and isn’t intimidated. His goal is to make sure his hitter has every tool he needs to succeed. “You have to find a way. It doesn’t matter if it comes from their hitting coach at home, it comes from their dad, it comes from anyone on their staff,” he said. “As long as that player is getting what that player needs and is having relative success, (that) is literally all that matters.” Popkins is relatively inexperienced as a coach, but the Twins aren’t worried. They believe his character counters any hurdles his youth creates. Falvey thought the work Popkins did in the offseason would nullify any age concerns players might have. “You always know that’s a bit of a risk,” Falvey said. “But his humility, the ways he goes about trying to navigate, is what really sold us. “He’s in there crushing the video, just watching every player again. And he had been doing that all offseason, too, and he was just getting prepared for when people are here. When you start from a place of being prepared … that’s how you build the trust.” The Dodgers believed in Popkins enough to hire him on the spot in 2019. Technically, the Dodgers signed Popkins to a minor-league contract on March 16, 2019, and made him a player-coach. Popkins spent the season doing swing work and performance science with the organization’s Rookie Arizona League hitters in Glendale, Ariz. He would have done the same in 2020 before COVID-19 wiped out the season. Popkins loved his assignment but was advised to take the Great Lakes job in 2021. After the 2021 season, the Dodgers knew what they had in Popkins and suspected other teams might, too. They planned to promote him to minor-league hitting coordinator. Then the Twins called. Based on the begrudging responses they received from the Dodgers front office when asking about Popkins’ availability, the Twins had a sense they were hiring the right guy. Said one Dodgers executive in November: “They did really well, unfortunately.” “His name wouldn’t have been a secret for very long,” Baldelli said. “He has the skill set to be an amazing young coach. I think we’re very fortunate to have him.” Though they only spent one season together, Chubb has no doubt his former hitting coach is up to the task. “He’s the total package, a guy that can teach the swing, understands movement and the way the body works along with the ability to game plan, break down pitchers and then the ability to connect with players,” Chubb said. “I don’t see it being a big jump. … The game is about building relationships and if you can do that, you’re going to get buy-in. As soon as he gets buy-in from one guy, you’ll see that kind of spiral and the entire Twins team will catch on and figure out he’s the real deal.”

Farhan's SFG tenure is confusing He had a lot of resources but operated as if he was the Rays GM half the time It seemed like he had a mandate from ownership to be responsible, prudent, and build a "sustainable winner" like they did not want to shove all their chips in, ever Then ownership just hands the team to Buster Posey and friends and gives them a blank cheque?

Rob Manfred has a perma boner now MLB can lose It's either the subway world series or Ohtani v Judge

That Rocchio drop was so brutal

Jays don't need a 3B they have gold glove nominee Ernie Clemens

Uhhhh good riddance I guess lol

I thought the plan was that the Rays would build their new stadium beside Tropicana, and demo the Trop?

Would be amazing if they played in Montreal for an entire season or two

The worst case Ontario might be a 7+ year Adames or Bregman contract like looks bad from day 1. One of those on the books isn't going to ruin the franchise. There is really nobody else on the market who could reasonably be the benefactor of a sandbag deal. Of course Soto could (or will, eventually be a sandbag deal) but that would be an extreme sudden decline in talent for it to happen any time soon. Burnes could sign a $200M contract then blow his elbow up but I don't think Toronto will be pursuing him anyway. Everyone else will just get mid-term deals. 2 year deals for Profar and Walker, maybe 3 for Kikuchi, Teoscar/Santander/O'Neill might be able to get 4... and the AAV might be low enough on some of those that it doesn't even matter if the player pulls a Nick Catellanos and is s***** the entire time.

The Blue Jays fudge their revenue numbers intentionally though Like, sell the TV rights to themselves (Rogers) for way below market rate

The long term (5-6 year) outlook for any MLB team can turn around quickly, especially if that team develops some elite controllable talent, BUT consider the following... In 2017 when the Blue Jays sucked, Vlad and Bo were dominating in A ball and A+ ball. They were so f***ing good that they were both top 20 consensus MLB prospects. And as position players, possible franchise players, a couple of years away you could already dream on the next window of contention. And that window of contention came to fruition (Ross blew it of course). In 2024, the Blue Jays sucked and there is NOBODY COMING MAN THERE IS f***ING NOBODY ON THE WAY This team is Fukudome'd for a while. Pray for a 2025 WC berth because that could be the only fun for half a decade. Like, the only way out of this is if the new Vlad-Bo are already in the system. Arjun Nimmala 5 WAR SS in two years? Trey Yesavage an Ace from day 1?

why do you have to wonder that? they are the same age, Vientos is good and Baty f***ing sucks and isn't even on the team of course he is trade bait

The Twins are a better organization because they can make baseball players They have actual, tangible developmental strategies that work and several years to prove it They were out front of certain pitching trends (high fastballs, sweepers) and hitting trends (pulled fly balls) and they do smart things like cash the novelty player Luis Arraez for the sneaky Ace Pablo Lopez, and trade Jose Berrios at the perfect time (Simeon Woods Richardson outperformed him this year lol). They also have a fully functional player development system, just look at their bullpen and really their entire roster. You are right that the margins are thin though. As has been stated already in this thread. The Twins don't spend enough money. The Jays can overcome a lot of mediocrity by just spending $230M+ annually

critical error of not seeing the forest for the trees if the difference between you and the Angels is Spencer Horwitz, or 6 Bowden Francis starts, then guess what - there is no significant difference between you and the Angels!

okay spencer

Yeah it's pretty tight from 3 to 24 to be honest Tighter than some would think The Nationals are assembling a really good young core after a long rebuild and have the potential to skyrocket The Reds have a nice core and some developmental chops, they just need more resources The Phillies competitive window might be closing soon. Long in the tooth. The Padres have been on the brink of looking like a has-been but they went on a run this year and connorp got a little AJP chub because of it but who knows if it lasts. The Red Sox have spiraled between big market behemoth and inept front office periods The Rays will never again be more than a WC team

You could argue that Toronto's developmental record has been the worst in baseball in recent years The last good player Toronto graduate was who... Kirk? A 2021 rookie who has been a 2-4 WAR player? Not even really an impact player just an above average guy. Him or Manoah are the only candidates. Bowden Francis I guess as well if you want to be generous. And the AAAA bats like Horwitz if you want to still be generous. The Angels have 2023 rookie Logan O'Hoppe, sneaky star Zach Neto also a 2023 rookie, and 2024 breakthrough arm Jose Soriano who looks like an actual SP but I suppose is in the "prove it" boat with Bowden Francis. But Neto is the best player mentioned by me so far, by MILES and miles. He's a rock solid franchise shortstop. The Rockies have also developed an impact SS in Tovar. They also have an impact CF in Doyle. And a potential impact bounce back guy in Nolan Jones. And a closer who throws 100 in Vodnik, plus the sneaky good SP Ryan Feltner.

imagine the smell

Resources matter a lot. The Jays are probably mediocre rather than terrible in a general front office sense. Like yeah, they have been completely inept at developing impact talent and pitching BUT they are smart enough to avoid bad contracts and they seem okay at other aspects of roster construction and so forth. So I just don't see any argument for a team like Pittsburgh above Toronto. Complete org rankings: 1. Dodgers 2. Yankees 3. Braves 4. Orioles 5. Padres 6. Phillies 7. Mets 8. Brewers 9. Red Sox 10. Twins 11. Rays 12. Guardians 13. Astros 14. Diamondbacks 15. Giants 16. Tigers 17. Cubs 18. Rangers 19. Blue Jays 20. Royals 21. Cardinals 22. Nationals 23. Mariners 24. Reds 25. Pirates 26. Marlins 27. Athletics 28. Angels 29. White Sox 30. Rockies But yes, Toronto has no argument for being top 10 or even top 15. Best you can say is they are in the "15-24 tier" or something like that. All of those teams are pretty fluid and have certain strengths and weaknesses. Similar to other teams with resources and brain injuries like the Cubs and Giants.

The state of the french fries is not bottom 5 bad but it's definitely not top 15 good either Resources: 8/10 Prospects: 2/10 2025 chances: 6/10 2025 to 2028 chances: 3/10 Front office talent: 5/10 Fanbase/support: 6/10

Spanky They have no good prospects Barely any good young MLB players who will be around for a long time They just won like 65 games It's grim

Spring training is the low hanging fruit. Just f***ing make it shorter. I like the long, grueling NHL playoffs.

Even that is dumb In the divisional series the higher seed should just get 4 or 5 home games tbh so they actually have an advantage based on doing better in the regular season 5 games all at the home park of the higher seed. One off day after g3. Or, 1 game at the home park of the lower seed then 4 straight games of the higher seed at home. If I was in charge, the DS would look like that ^. 1 home game for the shittier team them 4 straight for the better team. And the WC round, the higher seed would only need to win 1 game to move on while the shittier team needs to win 2 in a row.

But you wouldn't expect Soto to walk more hitting in front of Judge Who wants to walk someone in front of Judge? You would expect Soto to get more pitches to hit hard

why is fWAR wrong about Vlad's defense? he is a minus defender by all of OAA, UZR, and DRS. the numbers are however much worse under OAA. but fWAR uses UZR still, I think. it has only been dinging him for like -2 to -4 runs per year recently. not a big deal at all. there is not a big delta in 1B UZR either. the best only get like +4 runs. what is fWAR missing that is going to add so much to every year of Vlad's career? what is the specific gripe here?