The Toronto Blue Jays' 2025 offensive outburst is being recognized.
Hitting coach David Popkins was named MLB's coach of the year by Baseball America on Wednesday.
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.
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