Georgia finalizing deal to hire LSU's Wes Johnson as head baseball coach, sources say - ESPN figured they &/or Bama would go after him.
Developing pitching talent (at the college level -- didn't succeed much in MLB) is his calling card and, presumably, will be his greatest strength. He's never been a head coach (or manager) at high level, so in-game decisions will probably be his comparative weakness. He's similar to Sully in those ways. On the other hand, he doesn't have a reputation of protecting young arms like Sully does (instead, a drive-to-95/velo guy who accepts the high attrition rate that brings). Nor does he have a reputation as a hard worker; he's unlikely to match all of Sully's hours scouting the travel ball and prep circuits. Johnson's personal reputation in some quarters (disloyal, selfish, hypocritical Bible-thumper) is going to be deal-breaking for a lot of recruits with multiple offers. Although, Georgia's weak facilities were already a recruiting challenge for the same players.
I love Gainesville, but if I was a young man not studying engineering because Georgia doesn't have that I would rather be in Athens for things other than baseball.
Johnson presided over pitching staffs for division-champion teams in his first two years, and the Twins have returned to the top of the AL Central this season with a 3.78 team ERA that ranks 11th in the majors. The Twins ranked 26th in ERA last year, fourth in 2020 and ninth in 2019 while Johnson was in charge of the staff.
A big blue dot in a sea of red. Just like Gainesville and Austin if talking politics. I lived in Austin, TX for the summer of 1982. It was a lot smaller then and I loved it. I have been back numerous times and it has just gotten worse and worse. I have no desire to live there now.
ERA ranks: 19th in 2022, 26th in 2021 (Johnson's last year, when he'd been developing the staff). The 2019 Twins won because of offense (900+ runs, MLB record for HR in a season). Johnson deserves some credit for 2020, but the biggest part of his credit comes through Kenta Maeda.. who blew out his elbow in 2021. Further, if you look at 2019 pitching prospect lists for the Twins, only Jhoan Duran has really made it. And that's because he throws really, really hard and somehow his arm has stayed together.
