The Toronto Blue Jays announced yesterday that they officially hired David Popkins as their new hitting coach after spending the last 3 years with the Minnesota Twins.
Popkins has been hired after the Blue Jays decide to part ways with Guillermo Martinez after the Blue Jays struggled tremendously at the plate this season which cost them many games throughout the season.
According to reports, Popkins is a very solid young hitting coach that was able to do a lot with the roster of players he had in Minnesota over the past few years.
Carlos Correa speaks on Blue Jays new hitting coach David Popkins
Twins all-star Carlos Correa recently spoke on how great of coach Popkins has been in Minnesota pointing out that he helped him understand a lot about his stats at the plate and finished by stating he is grateful to have had him as a coach.
Carlos Correa on Popkins:
"Popkins helped me understand myself a little better. A .900 OPS for some people comes with homers and walks. For me, it comes with being a little more creative and he helped me understand that I don't have to hit a home run every at-bat. Pop has been a huge help for me and I'm grateful that I came to this organization and he was my hitting coach.»
Hopefully Popkins is able to come in and help some players that have had pasts of being good hitters but have struggled recently such as Bo Bichette and George Springer who can clearly be solid hitters in the MLB.
It is clear it cannot get much worse than it was but it will be interesting to see Popkins approach heading into Spring Training.