In a bold and unexpected shift, the Toronto Blue Jays have announced the hiring of former Minnesota Twins hitting coach David Popkins. The 34-year-old, who spent the last three seasons with the Twins,

The Toronto Blue Jays on Monday announced the hiring of David Popkins as the club’s hitting coach under manager John Schneider. “David’s ability to game plan and connect with players in different ways is a really exciting addition to our coaching staff,

The Toronto Blue Jays are making a change to their baseball staff, but perhaps it's not the one you might've been anticipating.

Popkins spent the past three seasons overseeing the Twins' offence, and previously worked for the Dodgers in player development.

The Jays have hired David Popkins to be their new hitting coach. Popkins is 34 and played in the Cardinals system for three seasons but didn’t make it higher than Double-A. He hit .278/.346/.409 with 14 home runs in 256 games in their system.

The 34-year-old spent the past three years with the Twins and is one of four coaches Minnesota won't be bringing back heading into 2025. The other three who the team dismissed include hitting coach Rudy Hernandez, assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon and assistant bench/infield coach Tony Diaz.

While the real test won’t begin until players arrive in Dunedin, Fla., for spring training next year, the Toronto Blue Jays appear to have found the right person for the job by hiring David Popkins as their newest hitting coach.