Twins Lose Another Pitching Coach to College Ranks

[Seth Stohs]

https://nevadasportsnet.com/sports/wolf-pack-baseball/jake-mckinley-rounds-out-nevada-baseball-staff-with-twins-mark-moriarty

Just weeks after Wes Johnson left his role as the Twins pitching coach to go to LSU, the Twins organization has lost another pitching coach to the college ranks. 

Mark Moriarity, who has been with the organization the past three years (and been with the Kernels in 2021-22), has been named the pitching coach at the University of Nevada. Certainly the job would be more money, but also more time with his young family with the shorter season schedule. 

Moriarity is a Minnesota native, and he came to the Twins org from the University of Mary in Bismarck. 

[chpettit19]

How often do minors coaches leave for college gigs? Is this as rare as the Wes move? If so MLB has to be starting to sweat a little here.

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

from the University of Mary in Bismarck. 

So many institutions of higher learning I've never heard of!

Anyway, the Wolfpack is my local college rooting interest, so I'll be watching this closer than most such moves.

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

How often do minors coaches leave for college gigs? Is this as rare as the Wes move? If so MLB has to be starting to sweat a little here.

Great question. I don't know the answer. I know the Twins have lost a few others to college programs over the past year. 

We learned with the Johnson situation that a pitching coach at LSU can make more than a big-league pitching coach. Now, a big-league pitching coach is going to command a lot more than a minor-league pitching coach would, so I'm sure that Moriarity's contract at Nevada is well less than Johnson's, but Nevada isn't LSU. All those other things like less time away from family, shorter schedule, are still there too. 

I thought it was strange a couple of years ago when, in-season, Steve Singleton left his job as the Double-A hitting coach to become the hitting coach of the University of Texas women's softball team. Now, my assumption is that it is probably a better-paying job... and, he and the Longhorns finished runner-up in the softball World Series this season.