David Popkins Ejected in Fourth as Blue Jays Fall to Phillies

David Popkins was ejected in the bottom of the fourth inning Monday after a brief exchange with home plate umpire Jansen Visconti, leaving the Blue Jays without their hitting coach for the rest of the game. Toronto was down 5-1 at the time, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the plate.

Visconti and Popkins

Popkins drew the ejection after making a comment following a strike call. Visconti and the Blue Jays hitting coach went back and forth briefly before the umpire sent him off.

The ejection came against the Philadelphia Phillies and marked the second coaching ejection for Toronto this season. John Schneider was ejected in early April against the Los Angeles Dodgers, so this was not the first time the Blue Jays lost a coach in the middle of a game.

Toronto Without Its Hitting Coach

From that point on, Toronto finished Monday's game without Popkins in the dugout. The timing matters because the ejection came in the middle of an at-bat, with Guerrero still in the box and the Blue Jays already chasing a four-run deficit.

For the Blue Jays, the immediate reality was simple: one more coaching absence on a night when the lineup was already trying to dig out of a 5-1 hole. The larger pattern is harder to miss, with two coaching ejections already on the team’s ledger this season and both coming in different months, one in early April and one on Monday.