LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson has turned to the Major Leagues for his new pitching coach. Wes Johnson, the pitching coach of the American League Central Division-leading Minnesota Twins will replace Jason Kelly, who is the new head coach of the Washington Huskies.
Johnson will begin his tenure at LSU later this week after coaching the Twins in their five-game series against the Cleveland Guardians.
Johnson has been with the Twins the last four seasons after spending nine seasons as a college pitching coach, most recently with Arkansas in 2018 when the Razorbacks finished as national runner-ups. He’s also had stops at Mississippi State, Dallas Baptist and Central Arkansas.
“I couldn’t be more excited to announce Wes Johnson as our pitching coach at LSU,” Jay Johnson said. “We have hired, in my opinion, the best pitching coach in the country at any level. The success he has had at the highest level of baseball speaks to Wes’ ability to communicate, teach, develop and motivate. Our current and future pitchers have a coach in Wes that will get the best out of them and help them develop into one of the best pitching staffs in college baseball on an annual basis.
“I believe Wes will help us recruit and develop a large number of future Major League pitchers at LSU and form them into a dominant staff for years to come. This is a huge day for LSU Baseball.”
Johnson has reportedly agreed to a three-year deal worth one-point-one million dollars.
The news of Wes Johnson’s hiring comes on the heels of two big acquisitions through the transfer portal, North Carolina State’s Tommy White and Vanderbilt’s Christian Little.
White set the NCAA freshman home run record by hitting 27 bombs and driving in 74 runs this past season. He has two more years before he’s draft-eligible.
Little is a right-hander from St. Louis, Missouri, who went 4-4 with a 4.65 ERA and striking out 95 in 81 innings. D1 baseball’s Kendall Rogers says Little has the potential to be a first round pick.
And Johnson has added another infielder as Vanderbilt shortstop Carter Young has announced he’s transferring to LSU after hitting .207 with seven home runs this past season, but the year before he hit 16 home runs.
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