Article: HAYES: Twins to Hire Wes Johnson as Pitching Coach

[Old Twins Cap]

Twins hire a teacher as pitching coach.

 

From the videos, he's plugged in and ready to teach, help, critique and learn.

 

What's not to like?

[Thrylos]

 

Also, per the Pioneer Press, Jermey Hefner will be the next bullpen coach.

 

Jeremy Hefner has been an advance scout for the Twins the past season.

here is a good writeup on him.

[TheLeviathan]

Hope he works out!

[Rosterman]

What veterans?

 

[nater79a]

Not a big deal.

 

Everyone knows Matt Belisle is the de facto pitching coach.

[Seth Stohs]

From DJ Baxendale:

 

 

[AlwaysinModeration]

Seems like an excellent choice. He was scouted by a couple of mlb teams.

 

http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2018/nov/15/sources-wes-johnson-leave-arkansas-twins/

 

“Johnson is known for developing power pitchers. His two Arkansas staffs finished with a combined 1,238 strikeouts in 133 games, and several Razorbacks saw significant increases to the velocity of their pitches as a result of Johnson's emphasis on lower-body workouts and pitch-mechanic analytics.

 

“At Johnson's urging, prior to the 2017 season Arkansas installed a radar system called TrackMan that records and analyzes 46 data points for pitchers on every pitch.

 

“If you get into biomechanics, you find out really fast that a pitcher cannot repeat his delivery," Johnson told WholeHogSports in 2017. "You’ve got over 600 muscles in the body. To think that the roughly 240 that we use in pitching are going to fire at the same time - you’ve got a better chance at winning the lottery. TrackMan gives me a chance to show guys a consistent release height and some things we can repeat."

[AlwaysinModeration]

He turned Dallas Baptist University into a perennial powerhouse, and spent one year at Miss State before getting hired by Arkansas:

 

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/coache/wes-johnson/

 

“Johnson was one major reason Mississippi State was able to go from worst to first in 2016. After the Bulldogs only totaled eight wins in 2015 and had the highest ERA in the league, Johnson developed MSU’s pitching staff into one of the best in the country, helping the team win 44 games, its most since 1997.

 

“Led by (2016 34th overall pick by Cardinals Dakota) Hudson, Mississippi State’s team ERA improved by more than a full earned run this year (3.35)...”

[AlwaysinModeration]

This guy has a two decade track record of taking mediocre pitching staffs and making them considerably better, increasing player velocity, strikeouts and reducing walks. He got a masters in kinesiology.

 

“Arguably, his greatest success story is former Dallas Baptist University righty Brandon Koch, who arrived in Dallas as a shortstop and left as the greatest closer in school history. Working daily with Johnson, Koch went from a 7.20 ERA his freshman year to breaking the school record with a 0.64 ERA in 2014.”

[70charger]

I knew nothing about him before today, but I like the hire based on what I’m reading. More than that, I love the fact that the FO isn’t hiding behind traditional ways of doing things to prolong their run. Reward comes with risk. Failure, on the other hand, is easily achievable whether risks are taken or not.

[AlwaysinModeration]

Arkansas pitching stats. See if you can spot when Johnson starting coaching there:

 

2016 452/238 K/BB, .273 BAA, 5.00 ERA

2017 317/89 K/BB, .226BAA, 3.32 ERA

2018 619/237 K/BB, .237BAA, 3.55 ERA

[AlwaysinModeration]

Dakota Hudson junior year:

2.55 ERA, 115 Ks in 113 IP

 

Hudson senior year:

1.09 ERA, 125 Ks in 64 IP

 

Any guesses who was his new pitching coach senior year?

[AlwaysinModeration]

Mississippi St pitching stats:

 

2015: 482IP, 395/199 K/BB, .269 BAA, 4.51 ERA

2016: 567IP, 576/208 K/BB, .245 BAA, 3.35 ERA

[theBOMisthebomb]

These hires are refreshing. The old "Twins Way" hadn't really worked for 25 years. Let's turn the page to 21st century Twins and start hanging World Series banners again.

[Ex-Iowegian]

Just not sure about this. This is not college ball...

[nicksaviking]

I love unexpected hires.

 

And I think it's clear from the last one, there's a really quick hook if it should not work out.

[nicksaviking]

 

Seems like an excellent choice. He was scouted by a couple of mlb teams.

http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2018/nov/15/sources-wes-johnson-leave-arkansas-twins/

“Johnson is known for developing power pitchers. His two Arkansas staffs finished with a combined 1,238 strikeouts in 133 games, and several Razorbacks saw significant increases to the velocity of their pitches as a result of Johnson's emphasis on lower-body workouts and pitch-mechanic analytics.

“At Johnson's urging, prior to the 2017 season Arkansas installed a radar system called TrackMan that records and analyzes 46 data points for pitchers on every pitch.

“If you get into biomechanics, you find out really fast that a pitcher cannot repeat his delivery," Johnson told WholeHogSports in 2017. "You’ve got over 600 muscles in the body. To think that the roughly 240 that we use in pitching are going to fire at the same time - you’ve got a better chance at winning the lottery. TrackMan gives me a chance to show guys a consistent release height and some things we can repeat."

 

I can't think of three paragraphs that would encourage me more about this hire.

[bird]

 

From DJ Baxendale:

 

 

 

For the sake of his own career, DJ needs to sit in the front row when this guy teaches.

[WPS]

 

Just not sure about this. This is not college ball...

 

True, but he won't be working with college-level pitchers either. At least he coached at the highest level of college ball...guys like Bregman, Benintendi and Nola made the transition pretty quickly playing-wise.

[AlwaysinModeration]

True, but he won't be working with college-level pitchers either. At least he coached at the highest level of college ball...guys like Bregman, Benintendi and Nola made the transition pretty quickly playing-wise.

Speaking of Nola and Benintendi, I have to wonder if Brent Rooker and Trevor Larnach aren’t Twins in part because of the successful transition to the bigs by those two players specifically, and if the Twins were open to hiring Wes Johnson (when a hiring like that has never really been done before) because of some recent MLB successes of accomplished college draftees?

 

I know people hate Monday morning QBing, but in 2014 when the Twins picked #5, I remember that before the draft I kept looking at Aaron Nola’s outstanding college pitching stats and thinking that he might be the best pick (he went seventh). Then in 2015, when the Twins picked #6, I remember clearly pre-draft how there was lots of talk about how much “helium” Benintendi had and how much the Red Sox loved him, getting him at #7. It confused me how certain it was that the Red Sox were going to get him, with the Twins drafting one spot ahead of them.

 

I can’t help but think the Twins brass has to regret having Nick Gordon and Tyler Jay instead of Nola and Benintendi, and whether those fairly prominent misses at the college level have factored into the Rooker, Larnach and Wes Johnson acquisitions.

[Doctor Wu]

My first reaction was ... huh? Never heard of the guy before, but reading everything about him, it sounds like a very canny move by the front office, one of those unconventional choices that could turn out to be a real gem.

[AlwaysinModeration]

Seems like an excellent choice. He was scouted by a couple of mlb teams.

 

http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2018/nov/15/sources-wes-johnson-leave-arkansas-twins/

 

“Johnson is known for developing power pitchers. His two Arkansas staffs finished with a combined 1,238 strikeouts in 133 games, and several Razorbacks saw significant increases to the velocity of their pitches as a result of Johnson's emphasis on lower-body workouts and pitch-mechanic analytics.

 

“At Johnson's urging, prior to the 2017 season Arkansas installed a radar system called TrackMan that records and analyzes 46 data points for pitchers on every pitch.

 

“If you get into biomechanics, you find out really fast that a pitcher cannot repeat his delivery," Johnson told WholeHogSports in 2017. "You’ve got over 600 muscles in the body. To think that the roughly 240 that we use in pitching are going to fire at the same time - you’ve got a better chance at winning the lottery. TrackMan gives me a chance to show guys a consistent release height and some things we can repeat."

Bumping this thread up so that people can read up more on Wes Johnson’s background. When they hired him, I posted a number of stat lines from his time with several college programs, noting the rapid, remarkable improvements.

 

(Any one else wondering if the Twins will wind up trading for Dakota Hudson or Brandon Koch?)

[AlwaysinModeration]

It will be interesting to see how the veteran pitchers on the roster respond to someone with no pro coaching experience.

When do we think it is safe to render a verdict on this?

[AlwaysinModeration]

Just not sure about this. This is not college ball...

It’s mindsets like this that result in Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson leading the Tigers. I’m glad Falvey and Levine zagged when most others zigged.