Dodgers Lose Minor League Hitting Coach David Popkins to Minnesota Twins
As is the case every offseason, the Dodgers have lost a member of the organization to another organization. David Popkins, who was the hitting coach for the Single-A Great Lakes Loons last season, has been picked up by the Minnesota Twins and will join their major league coaching staff.
Source confirms David Popkins, who was the #Dodgers hitting coach at High-A Great Lakes last season, has been hired to be the #MNTwins hitting coach. @JonHeyman had it first.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) October 28, 2021
Popkins, 31, helped the Loons lead the Midwest League’s High-A Central in home runs (187) and OPS (.800). He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals out of UC Davis in the 2012 draft. Over 3 minor league seasons, the former outfielder hit .278 with 14 home runs and 96 runs batted in over 256 games. He reached as high as double-A before hanging up his spikes in 2014.
Phil Miller of the Star Tribune spoke with Great Lakes manager Austin Chubb about Popkins who he called “an amazing game planner” and praised his ability to connect with players.
“Going from high-A to the big leagues might seem like a big jump, but it’ll be an easy transition because of what a great coach he is.”
Minnesota’s middle-of-the-pack offense was sixth in the AL in OPS (.738) but second in home runs (228).
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Yawn
I like Marte, but he’s not really a great fit, and he’s a classic bad FA signing at 33 yrs old coming off a nice season, but basically no better than his career .800 OPS suggests. Way more downside than up. The kind of guy you bring in mid-season to fill a need, but not a 3/4 yrs – $50 mill free agent.
That is especially true when you consider the needs at pitcher. May will be back, eventually, and some additional young arms are coming, but AF will need to find some quality guys on short deals to build a bridge, when the rotation hopefully looks like Buehler, Urias, May, Miller, Pepiot.