The Derek Shelton era is underway in Minnesota and his first coaching staff is beginning to take shape as his two major pitching coaches have been selected. According to Dan Hayes of The Athletic, Pete
Maki has been retained as pitching coach while LaTroy Hawkins will be brought in as bullpen coach, replacing Colby Suggs.
Pete Maki took over as pitching coach midway through the 2022 season after Wes Johnson shocked the baseball world by returning to college to become the pitching coach at LSU. The Twins pitching staff is just 18th in MLB ERA since Maki’s promotion, but the underlying metrics tell a very promising story. In that same span, the Twins rank 3rd in strikeout rate, 3rd in walk rate, 8th in xERA, 7th in FIP, 8th in xFIP, 5th in SIERA, 9th in hard hit rate, and 6th in pitching fWAR. He’s also helped players like Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez, Sonny Gray, and Jhoan Duran earn All-Star nods while seeing significant steps forward from many of his other pitchers. With a very young and inexperienced staff behind All-Stars Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez, Maki will need to spin some magic again to help the Twins have a competitive bullpen.
LaTroy Hawkins, meanwhile, will receive his first MLB coaching gig. The former longtime Twin has been a regular on Minnesota’s broadcasts for the past few years, while helping the Twins in various developmental roles in Spring Training. He’s a bit of an unknown as a coach since he hasn’t done it before, but Hawkins’ 20-year MLB career earned him a lot of respect around the league. He’s played recently enough to connect to players, but is smart enough to work with analytics and put his relievers in a position to succeed. Simply put, no one has a bad thing to say about LaTroy and he’ll be a great presence to have around the clubhouse every day.
Perhaps Hawkins’ most important accomplishment is personal, as he is the godfather to Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes after Hawkins and Mahomes Sr. became close when they were both members of the Twins.
The main question left for Shelton and POBO Derek Falvey is the hitting staff. David Popkins was fired from the Twins’ staff last season and immediately transformed the Blue Jays into the best hitting team in baseball. Meanwhile, Matt Borgschulte saw yet another year of hitting regression from nearly every hitter on the roster besides Byron Buxton and Luke Keaschall. It remains to be seen if Borgschulte will be retained or if the Twins will try to get a fresh voice for the third straight season.
Shelton also needs a bench coach and reportedly wants Yankees (and former Twins) hitting coach James Rowson for the role. Rowson finished second in the interview process for Minnesota’s head job and would be a good, fresh voice for this group of young players. Only Buxton remains from the 2019 Bomba Squad who worked with both Shelton and Rowson. Rowson would be a huge addition for the staff, but the Twins will need to spend a good amount of money to pry away a prominent, respected assistant from New York.
In other coaching staff news, a few former Minnesota assistants have moved on to their next gigs. Former bench coach Jayce Tingler is taking a job with Tommy Vitello in San Francisco after both played together in college. Organizational staple Tommy Watkins was allowed to interview around the league and landed a position with the Atlanta Braves. Rising manager candidate Hank Conger was told he wouldn’t be retained for 2026, while former bullpen coach Colby Suggs has been interviewing and is expected to land in Texas.
