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Toronto Blue Jays hitting coach named baseballs best in 2025
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Toronto Blue Jays' David Popkins work is being recognized by Baseball America in a big way.
Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins has been named Major League Baseball's coach of the year by Baseball America.
Hitting Coach David Popkins is Baseball America's 2025 MLB Coach of the Year!
Under Popkins, the Blue Jays offense grew into one of the best in baseball and crafted an identity of their own, which this organization had struggled to find since that power-hitting lineup in 2021 that featured Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Marcus Semien, Teoscar Hernández and others.
This year's group succeeded in so many different ways, though, which was exactly what Popkins envisioned when he came to the Blue Jays after his time with the Twins.
Popkins shares his hitting philosophy with anyone who will listen
«My philosophy is built off of creativity,» Popkins said in the early days of Spring Training. «We're trying to become the most creative lineup at scoring runs in baseball. We do that by practicing all of the different situations and clubs that we're going to need in the game.»
Popkins shared his philosophy via MLB Now on finding value in an offense, separating analytics from the eye test and the increase in bat speed among numerous Toronto hitters.
In his first season in charge of the Blue Jays offence, Popkins guided the squad to a 798-run season, good for fourth in MLB and second in the AL, behind the New York Yankees.
With a contact-first approach, the Blue Jays led MLB with a .265 batting average (the Philadelphia Phillies were second, at .258), .333 on-base percentage and 1,461 hits.
The Blue Jays also slotted third in OPS at .761 and their 1,099 strikeouts were the second-fewest in baseball.
Come October, the Blue Jays offence kicked it up a gear, leading MLB in batting average (.285), OBP (.352), OPS (.822) home runs (28) and hits (190).
Popkins, 36, spent three years as the Minnesota Twins' hitting coach before joining the Blue Jays dugout.