Twins' Minor League Pitching Coordinator to Tigers

by biggity2bit on Oct 17, 2008 11:36 PM EDT

I was just browsing through ESPN and saw this item. Checking some of the local Twins blogs there wasn't anything about it. I've heard in the past that Knapp was an important figure for our minor league pitchers. Is that true? How does this move affect (or not affect) the Twins moving forward?

Rick Knapp was hired as the Detroit Tigers pitching coach on Friday.

Knapp joins the coaching staff after 12 seasons as the minor league pitching coordinator for the Minnesota Twins.

He replaces Chuck Hernandez, who was fired along with bullpen coach Jeff Jones last month at the end of Detroit's disappointing 74-88 season.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said in a statement that Knapp brings "an excellent track record of developing major league-caliber pitchers."

Knapp began his coaching career as the pitching coach at Class A Gastonia in 1988. He pitched five seasons at the minor league level with the Texas Rangers.

Knapp has drawn plenty of praise from the Twins organization over the years for his work with several prospects. He was instrumental in helping Nick Blackburn overcome a knee problem, weight gain and confidence loss to rise through the system and land a spot in the Twins' rotation this spring.

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I have always heard...

…that the Twins had a great amount of respect for Knapp. That said, I expect that Twins management and coaches are happy for him as he secures a major league job. As to what the Twins do to replace him, it would be a surprise if they didn’t have someone in the organization whom they promote to this slot….which is what they almost always do.

by roger13 on Oct 18, 2008 12:35 PM EDT reply actions