LSU Hiring Wes Johnson as Pitching Coach

Jay Johnson has his new pitching coach.

D1Baseball’s Kendal Rogers reported Sunday evening that LSU will be hiring Minnesota Twins’ pitching coach Wes Johnson to the same position.

Wes Johnson is thought of as one of the best pitching coaches in the game. His excellent work at Arkansas in 2018 landed him in Minnesota in the first place. The craziest part about the hire is Wes Johnson is leaving the Twins, who are in first place in the AL Central, midseason.

Since joining Minnesota, the Twins have won the AL Central twice and are currently two games ahead of Cleveland in the division standings. Minnesota’s team ERA finished in the top 10 in MLB in Johnson’s first two seasons.

Prior to joining the Twins, Johnson made a name for himself in the college game and has experience working in the SEC. Johnson has coached at Dallas Baptist University, Mississippi State, and Arkansas. In 2018, Johnson’s last year at Arkansas, the Hogs made it to the College World Series final and reliever Kevin Kopps won the Golden Spikes Award.

Front end pitching was one of the weaknesses for the 2022 LSU baseball team and Jay Johnson is doing his damndest to make sure it won’t be an issue in ‘23. He’s brought in Dylan Trebake (Creighton) and Christian Little (Vanderbilt) to be the core of the weekend rotation and has hired one of the best pitching coaches in the country to lead the staff.