One day after his 2026 season ends, the Minnesota Twins have fired pitching coach Pete Maki and pitching assistant coach Luis Ramirez, according to multiple reports.
Minnesota’s team’s 4.56 ERA was the third-worst in the American League this season. In the four seasons Maki and Ramirez hit the bat, the Twins ranked sixth (3.87), 21st (4.26), 23rd (4.55) and 25th (4.56) in team ERA among MLB teams.
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Twins can evaluate pitchers’ fielding preferences independent of pitching (FIP), a pitcher’s pitching results, the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports. However, even going by that metric, the starting rotation declined from second in MLB (3.73 FIP) in 2023 to 16th (4.21) this season.
However, the front office has dealt with six pitchers before the 2025 trade deadline, including closer Jhoan Duran, starter Chris Paddack, and Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart, Danny Coulombe and Louis Varland.
Maki was a pitching coach at Duke before joining the Twins organization in 2018. He began as a minor league pitching coordinator. He became a major-league bullpen coach in 2020 and became a pitching coach two years later when Wes Johnson left the same position at UNC.
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Ramirez has been with Minnesota since 2006, starting as a coach for the Venezuelan academy organization before becoming a minor league pitching coach in 2013. He was named assistant coach of the major league club in 2022.
Both coaches were retained by former staff manager Rocco Baldelli when Derek Shelton took over for the 2026 season. The three other coaches who stayed through the transition — third-base coach Raymond Borrego and assistant hitting coaches Trevor Amicone and Rayden Sierra — remain with the Twins.
Shelton added six coaches when he took over as manager before the 2026 season, including bullpen coach LaTroy Hawkins, first-base coach Grady Sizemore and assistant bench coach Mike Rabelo, according to The Athletic.