Twins dismiss hitting coaches David Popkins, Rudy Hernandez and Derek Shomon, and infield coach Tony Diaz

The Twins’ collapse over the season’s final six weeks has claimed more than their playoff spot. On Wednesday, it cost four Twins coaches their jobs.

Hitting coach David Popkins, assistant hitting coaches Derek Shomon and Rudy Hernandez, and infield coach Tony Diaz will not return to manager Rocco Baldelli’s major league staff in 2025, the team announced.

Diaz, 47, was one of the first coaches hired for Baldelli’s staff in 2019, and served as third-base coach for three seasons. He was promoted to assistant bench coach and infield coach in 2022, and spent time before every game hitting ground balls and short-hops to Twins infielders to prepare them.

“I was shocked by their decision, I really was. But that’s baseball,” said Diaz, who managed a rookie-level team in the Rockies’ system for a six years and coached first base for the Rockies for two seasons before coming to Minnesota. “They said they want to change their infield philosophy.”

Hernandez, 59, has also been on Baldelli’s staff for all six seasons, originally hired as chief assistant to hitting coach James Rowson. But he has been in the Twins organization since 1996, beginning as an instructor at the team’s Venezuelan academy, and serving as a coach or manager at four different minor league levels.

Popkins, 34, was hired away from the Dodgers organization three years ago, and helped the team utilize new technology to instruct and support hitters. The Twins hit 233 home runs last season, tying for the American League lead.

But the Twins offense was far more inconsistent in 2024, and all but evaporated over the final six weeks. The Twins hit .228 as a team over their final 39 games, going 12-27 while averaging only 3.6 runs per game.

Shomon, 34, was added to the staff two years ago after spending the previous two seasons as hitting coach at Class A Fort Myers and Class AA Wichita.