How new hitting coach David Popkins can resurrect the Blue Jays woeful offense.
For the last couple of seasons, the biggest gripe amongst Blue Jays fans was the team's perceived lack of hitting. At the conclusion of the 2024 MLB seasons, the Blue Jays finally heeded the calls and parted ways with hitting Guillermo Martinez after six years.
His replacement? David Popkins, formerly of the Minnesota Twins.
He has a reputation of being very good with swing mechanics, which will be especially important to the current crop of young hitters like Orelvis Martinez, Will Wagner, and Addison Barger.
Whereas Martinez had a more broad approach that often times lacked aggressiveness, look for Popkins to have a more focused mindset, getting into the specificities of each player's swing.
It's part of an overall change in coaching and hitting philosophy. At the end of 2023, former hitting strategist Dave Hudgens was re-assigned, with Don Mattingly taking over the role. With Mattingly now moving back to a more traditional bench coach role, the Blue Jays seem to have done away with the strategist all together. In an era where teams can over-coach, this consolidation and paring-down will be beneficial in the long run.
The Blue Jays finished near the bottom in OPS in 2024. Under Popkins, the Twins finished 11th, 7th, and 11th respectively.
If Popkins can bring the Blue Jays back to 2021 numbers, then the Blue Jays will be in good shape. Time will tell.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 29 | 169 ANSWERS How new hitting coach David Popkins can resurrect the Blue Jays woeful offense. Can David Popkins resurrect the Blue Jays offense? | ||
| Yes | 50 | 29.6 % |
| No | 119 | 70.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
