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Derek Johnson

Reds Extend Pitching Coach Derek Johnson

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The Reds announced this afternoon that they’ve given pitching coach Derek Johnson the additional title of director of pitching. He’ll remain the big league pitching coach as well as assuming this additional responsibility, which the team announced as “the development and communication of pitching philosophy/initiatives throughout the entire organization.” Previous director of pitching Kyle Boddy left the Reds last month.

Along with the new title, Johnson earned a contract extension, general manager Nick Krall told reporters (including Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). Johnson had already been under contract through the end of next season, but he’s now slated to be in Cincinnati beyond 2022. Krall didn’t specify the new contract length.

“We moved some things forward over the last couple of years. But at the end of the day, I felt D.J. was the best person to be in this role because I feel he’s one of the best pitching minds in baseball, if not the best,” Krall said (via Sheldon). “I think that from being able to drive the content and the curriculum from the Major League staff, and then working down through, was the best way to approach it. I thought he would be the best person to set it up to have success in the Minor Leagues as well.”

Johnson has served as Cincinnati’s pitching coach for the past three years, making the jump from the division-rival Brewers during the 2018-19 offseason. The Reds have done fairly well in that department during Johnson’s tenure, posting a 4.24 ERA that ranks twelfth leaguewide in spite of one of the league’s most hitter-friendly home ballparks. Cincinnati ranked 20th in ERA with a 4.41 mark this past season, although they finished middle-of-the-pack in SIERA (4.17) and strikeout/walk rate differential (14.6 percentage points).

Of course, Krall and his staff are making the decision to keep Johnson around (with more responsibility) based on far more than bottom-line results. Reds’ brass is obviously happy with Johnson’s communication skills in working with pitchers, and his new role should give him more of an impact on the club’s minor league pipeline. That could be particularly useful as a couple of the team’s top young arms approach big league readiness. Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are each fairly recent top ten draftees and highly-regarded prospects. Both pitchers reached Triple-A Louisville at the end of this past season and could be in the majors relatively early in 2022.

NL Central Notes: Jeffress, Kela, Baez, Darvish, Suarez, Reds

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The Brewers released Jeremy Jeffress today, but before parting ways with the former All-Star, Milwaukee tried shopping the reliever within the NL Central.  The Athletic’s Robert Murray reported back in July that the Brewers and Pirates were discussing a trade that involved Keone Kela, and Murray reports today that a Jeffress-for-Kela swap was floated between the division rivals, though “talks never gained traction.”

While the Bucs were (and possibly still are) open to moving Kela in trade negotiations, the controversial right-hander isn’t necessarily a totally expendable piece for the Pirates, whereas Jeffress was clearly no longer in Milwaukee’s plans, as GM David Stearns indicated today to Murray and other reporters.  While Stearns left the door open for a potential reunion with Jeffress down the road, the reliever was hampered by a lack of trust in his splitter and a loss of velocity, possibly due to a heavy workload in 2018 or a shoulder injury that sidelined him for most of Spring Training.  “I think his arsenal changed this year.  That’s something that’s been well documented, not only with the fastball velocity but with the loss of a pitch that had become extremely important in his repertoire,” Stearns said.  “When you lose a pitch, you have to become a different pitcher and it’s certainly possible that Jeremy can become a different pitcher and be effective. We just didn’t see it consistently enough to count on him at any point this year.”

Here’s more from around the NL Central…

  • The Cubs received a twin dose of injury scares on Sunday when Yu Darvish was scratched from his start due to right forearm tightness.  In that same game, Javier Baez suffered a sore neck and a jammed left thumb after sliding into Orlando Arcia’s knee during a third-inning steal of second base.  Baez stayed in the game before being removed in the seventh, and while he may miss a game or two, x-rays were negative on his hand and the shortstop expects to be fine.  Darvish’s injury is more ominous, particularly since the righty has been dealing with the issue for his last five outings, as pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and manager Joe Maddon told reporters (including MLB.com’s Russell Dorsey).  Despite the late scratch, Maddon thinks Darvish will be ready to make his next turn in the rotation.  Needless to say, the Cubs can’t afford to lose any key contributors given the tight status of both the NL Central and NL wild card races.
  • Eugenio Suarez left the Reds’ 5-3 win over the Cardinals tonight after being hit on the left hand during a fifth inning plate appearance.  Suarez will be evaluated tomorrow after the swelling subsides.  The third baseman has continued to be an offensive force for the Reds (.261/.342/.546 with 40 home runs in 568 plate appearances) despite a worrying spike in swing-and-miss, as Suarez has a league-high 161 strikeouts.
  • The Reds’ pitching has gone from a major weakness in 2018 to a strength in 2019, and while some new acquisitions like Sonny Gray and (the since-traded) Tanner Roark played a part in that improvement, Cincinnati’s biggest addition might have been pitching coach Derek Johnson.  C. Trent Rosecrans and Eno Sarris of The Athletic (subscription required) break down how several of the Reds’ arms have changed their tactics from last season now that they’re under Johnson’s tutelage.

Reds Hire Pitching Coach Derek Johnson Away From Brewers

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4:57pm: MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets that Milwaukee general manager David Stearns has confirmed that Johnson is leaving the organization. The Brewers had “extensive” negotiations in an effort to retain Johnson, Stearns said, but it seems the two sides ultimately could not reach an agreement.

4:50pm: The Brewers are set for yet another coaching change, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that pitching coach Derek Johnson is leaving the organization to join the Reds in the same capacity. Milwaukee previously saw hitting coach Darnell Coles step down, and he was announced as the new hitting coach for the Diamondbacks earlier today.

To this point, the entirety of Johnson’s coaching career in pro ball has come in the National League Central. He spent the 2013-15 seasons as the Cubs’ minor league pitching coordinator and has served as Milwaukee’s pitching coach from 2016-18 before jumping ship to the division-rival Reds. Prior to that, he spent 11 seasons as the pitching coach at Vanderbilt, working with numerous future big leaguers, including first-rounders David Price, Mike Minor and Sonny Gray.

Johnson will be the first staff hire under newly minted skipper David Bell on a Reds staff that figures to see its own fair share of turnover following the early-season dismissal of Bryan Price and the recent departure of interim manager Jim Riggleman.

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