Twins Name Pete Maki Pitching Coach
The Twins announced Friday that they’ve promoted bullpen coach Pete Maki to the position of pitching coach. Maki’s move up the coaching ladder comes on the heels of former pitching coach Wes Johnson’s surprising midseason departure. Johnson will reportedly receive a raise and can earn up to $750K to serve as the pitching coach at Louisiana State University — a position that will require far less travel over a shorter season and allow Johnson to spend more time with his young family. Minnesota also promoted Colby Suggs, previously an advance scout and the team’s coordinator of run prevention, to Maki’s former role of bullpen coach.
Maki, 39, has been with the Twins since 2018 — first serving as the organization’s minor league pitching coordinator before taking on the role of bullpen beginning in 2019. He’s a familiar voice for the staff to work with, though Johnson’s departure is still a notable loss, given his reputation around the game and his popularity within the clubhouse. Prior to working with the Twins, Maki (like Johnson and Suggs) coached in the college ranks, most recently as the pitching coach at Duke from 2015-17.
Suggs, still just 30 years old, was the No. 73 overall pick by the Marlins in 2013 but hasn’t pitched professionally since 2016. He launched his coaching career with the Arkansas Razorbacks, spending 2018 as the bullpen coach alongside none other than Johnson, who was the pitching coach at Arkansas prior to being hired by the Twins.
Johnson’s departure for an NCAA position may still strike some as strange, but R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports recently suggested that it could be the beginning of a trend both in the coaching and scouting ranks (Twitter thread). Colleges tend to offer larger salaries, more limited travel and greater control for coaches, Anderson observes, adding that Johnson’s situation may not ultimately prove to be unique.
Twins Pitching Coach Wes Johnson Hired As LSU Pitching Coach
June 27: The Twins formally announced this morning that Johnson will depart the organization to accept his new role at LSU. His final day with the Twins will be Thursday.
“Wes Johnson has been an integral part of our organization over the last three and a half seasons and has helped guide our pitchers at the highest level,” Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said in a press release. “His leadership, insight, creativity, and ability to effectively work across a diverse team were hallmarks of his time with the Minnesota Twins. His influence and impact will continue to be realized in Minnesota through the pitchers and staff members he helped mentor. We wish him and his family all the best during his next stop at LSU.”
June 26, 11:03PM: Johnson will receive a $380K annual salary from LSU, according to the school, a modest increase over the approximately $350K per year that the coach received from the Twins. Johnson will indeed leave for LSU when the Twins’ series in Cleveland concludes on Thursday.
7:17PM: Maki will be promoted and become the Twins’ new pitching coach, Gleeman and Hayes report (via Twitter). Also from Hayes, talks between the Twins and Johnson were more about “what might make [the] job more appealing” to Johnson, and he didn’t ask the club for more money. LSU, meanwhile, was “very aggressive” in recruiting Johnson.
6:30PM: In a surprise midseason move, Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson is leaving the team to return to the college ranks, as D1 Baseball’s Kendall Rogers (Twitter link) reports that Johnson has been hired as LSU’s new pitching coach. Johnson is in his fourth season with the Twins, but has previous SEC ties — he worked as a pitching coach at Mississippi State and at Arkansas before joining Minnesota in November 2018.
Johnson had never worked in pro baseball prior to being hired by the Twins, though several teams in recent years have hired coaches with more varied resumes than the usual background as a player, coach, or manager at the MLB or minor league levels. In that regard, Johnson was something of a forerunner to this trend, as he was an early adopter of Trackman technology even at the college level.
Since the start of the 2019 season, Minnesota pitchers rank 10th in baseball in fWAR (46.8), which is a strong total even factoring in the injuries and performance drop-offs that plagued the Twins during their disappointing 2021 campaign. Starting pitching was seen as a big question mark for the Twins heading into 2022, but the club has weathered another set of injuries to post strong-to-respectable numbers in several categories. The success stories include Chris Archer‘s comeback year, and rookie Joe Ryan pitching well in his first full MLB season.
The pitching has been a reason behind the Twins’ 41-33 record, and rise to first place in the AL Central. With this in mind, it makes it all the more unusual that Johnson would leave so abruptly — The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reports that the Twins only learned yesterday about Johnson’s negotiations with LSU. With Minnesota about to begin an important five-game series against the Guardians, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic adds that Johnson is expected to remain with the Twins until that series is over.
Presumably, assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez or bullpen coach Pete Maki are the likeliest candidates to step into Minnesota’s pitching coach role on at least an interim basis. Given the sudden nature of Johnson’s departure, the Twins are perhaps more apt to wait until after the season to hire a permanent replacement.
Twins To Name Wes Johnson Pitching Coach
The Twins will dip into the college ranks to find their next pitching coach, as Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that Minnesota is set to hire University of Arkansas pitching coach Wes Johnson to hold that same role in Minneapolis. Additionally, the club will name Jeremy Hefner as its bullpen coach, Derek Wetmore of 1500 ESPN reports.
Taken together, these additions represent the first outside hire under new manager Rocco Baldelli, though the team will still need to add a third base coach and a first base coach. Hitting coaches James Rowson and Rudy Hernandez were retained, and bench coach Derek Shelton will likely be back after finishing as the runner-up to both Baldell in Minnesota and Chris Woodward in Texas.
Prior to his time with the Razorbacks, Johnson was the pitching coach at Mississippi State and Dallas Baptist University. Otherwise, though, his resume doesn’t look like that of a typical MLB pitching coach. The out-of-the-box hire for the Twins comes on the heels of just a one-year tenure for recently dismissed pitching coach Garvin Alston (formerly the Athletics’ bullpen coach).
A look through some of the recent draftees who’ve come from Johnson’s programs at Arkansas, Mississippi State and Dallas Baptist includes Orioles 2018 third-rounder Blaine Knight, Yankees 2017 third-rounder Trevor Stephan, Cardinals righty Dakota Hudson, Mets righty Drew Smith and Yankees right-hander Chance Adams.
As for Hefner, the former MLB hurler will be changing roles within the organization. He’s also something of an unusual hire, as a 32-year-old who was pitching professionally as recently as 2016. As Wetmore explains, Hefner previously performed pitching-related advanced scouting and video work with the Twins.