HAYES: Twins to Hire Wes Johnson as Pitching Coach
Nov 15 2018 12:48 PM |
Tom Froemming
in Minnesota Twins
Arkansas advanced all the way to the College World Series championship this season before losing to Trevor Larnach and the Oregon State Beavers. That should make for a fun reunion at spring training.
UPDATE: John Shipley of the Pioneer Press is reporting that Jeremy Hefner will be transferred from being a member of the team's analytics group to bullpen coach.
Stephen Sullivan of KATV Little Rock detailed some of Johnson's climb up to the college ranks, which included a decade coaching high school teams. A quick search of Johnson's name on YouTube brings up a wealth of interviews as well as instructional segments. Here's a good profile on him that goes into his use of TrackMan at around the 2:00 mark.
Here's an interesting video that shows Johnson addressing his players on his first day of work at Mississippi State back in 2015.
To say this is an under the radar hire might be an understatement, as you don't see coaches make the jump from college ball to the majors all too often. This is a move that further establishes the Twins as a forward-thinking organization that's open to going outside the box.
Johnson takes over a role Garvin Alston held for just one season. The Twins ranked 22nd in ERA in 2018.
- Mike Frasier Law, mikelink45, dgwills and 1 other like this
53 Comments
OK, well that is stepping out of the box. Seems like an interesting gambit that the braintrust is gambling on. Hope it works.
It will be interesting to see how the veteran pitchers on the roster respond to someone with no pro coaching experience.
Interesting he was selected for pitching coach. With his background, I could see the FO hiring him to be minor league pitching coordinator. He has some new challenges ahead - an MLB season is a lot different than college. Congratulations to Wes Johnson and hope it all works out for the best!
They already did that when they hired Pete Maki away from Duke.
Wow. I have no idea if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it's pretty clear they're not taking the easy way out, I'll give them that.
Agree with chief....they aren't hiding behind retreads, at manager or pitching coach......
He may undoubtedly have some challenges at the pro level, but I fully believe that you can either coach or you cannot (much like leadership, you either have the ability or you do not). There is little in between.
Good luck Coach Johnson, I bid you welcome to our little pond.
I don't care if they hire Dr. Seuss if he can help pitchers get better and reach their potential.
I don't see this being an issue. Players, at any level, realize very quickly if their coaches know what they are talking about or not.
*blank stare*
Well, ****. Didn't see that one coming.
That was my response, but was so dumbfounded couldn't even articulate it, so thanks for that.
If nothing else, its a interesting hire
Well, your not wrong
Great video on Wes. Looks like a smart, talented baseball mind.
Situation normal.
Similar pedigree to Brewers (now Reds) pitching coach Derek Johnson. Johnson did a pretty good job with a Brewers staff that lacked a true ace.
Fair to say that Brent Rooker is a fan of Wes Johnson:
Fun fact - he coached DJ Baxendale in high school.
The videos are impressive. Wes Johnson + Jose Berrios = Cy Young Award. You heard it here first.
Terry Ryan and myself are shocked right now. In a good way though.
When Baxendale was in high school, not Johnson. HA!!
Baxendale said that he played for him in the summer of 2005 and really learned a ton from him.