Johnson to run Chicago’s pitching development | Baseball America

Vanderbilt's Derek Johnson taking over as Cubs' pitching coordinator.

Johnson to run Chicago's pitching development  

This is a good move for the Cubbies. A well respected, proven developer of young talent on the mound. Something the organization has been lacking for perhaps a decade or so at least.

One of the reasons Vanderbilt has recruited a solid run of pitchers that has aided their run to the upper echelon of college baseball. 

From College to the Pros One of college baseball's most respected and accomplished pitching coaches left for a job in professional ball. Vanderbilt associate head coach Derek Johnson accepted a job as the Cubs' minor league pitching coordinator.

Johnson, the 2010 Baseball America/ABCA Assistant Coach of the Year, deserves a great deal of credit for helping Tim Corbin build Vanderbilt into an elite program on the national level. Johnson joined the Vandy staff a year before Corbin was hired as head coach in 2002, and Corbin made the wise decision to keep him on board. In the last decade, Johnson has earned a glowing reputation among his peers and the scouting community for his ability to develop quality arms, including David Price, Mike Minor, Sonny Gray and Jeremy Sowers.

"He's had as much impact on our program as anyone," Corbin told BA in 2010. "I think what D.J. has done with these kids is far-reaching. He's kept them healthy, he's made each one of them better. You look at the kids, the pitchers specifically, that have come out of our program, being able to pitch at the next level—it goes without saying . . . We would not have our success without having him on our staff."

Johnson was widely regarded as a top up-and-coming head coach candidate, but head coaches have certain administrative responsibilities that did not appeal to Johnson, who simply loves to teach pitching. An Illinois native who grew up rooting for the Cubs, Johnson said he was eager to take on the challenge of making the transition to pro ball.

"Obviously, I didn't look at being a pitching coordinator as necessarily being my next step, but on the college side, I didn't love the idea of being a head baseball coach in college," Johnson said. "In terms of a progression and what was the next step for me, this makes sense . . . I met all of those guys (in the Chicago front office), and I really felt like it was a great situation and just felt very, very comfortable with them, trying to understand what their vision was for the Cubs. I felt like it was something I wanted to be a part of."

A Shared Vision

Johnson spent two days in Arizona with Cubs director of scouting and player development Jason McLeod and other club officials. During those discussions, the team and Johnson discovered they share certain beliefs.

"Most importantly, we felt like his intelligence and vision aligned with ours," McLeod said. "We got a lot of good feedback from guys that continue to work with him and have gone on to the pro level. You can tell he feels very strongly about his beliefs, but also is open to other information."

Johnson is a gifted teacher with a knack for adapting to the needs of his pitchers—he does not adhere to a one-size-fits-all philosophy. But he does believe in the benefits of long-tossing, so this hire could mark an organizational shift toward longer-throwing programs—though long-tossing isn't likely to become dogma.

"If anything, we're trying to explore all avenues to make our pitchers better. Just because D.J.'s on board doesn't mean all of a sudden the Cubs are a long-toss organization," McLeod said. "Even though he may be a proponent of it, he understands that guys are still individuals, and he'll impact pitchers on a case-by-case basis . . . He's coming in here to learn himself and instill a lot of the things that he believes in."

It goes without saying that Johnson leaves a gaping hole on the Vanderbilt coaching staff. But under Corbin, Vandy has proven it can attract the best and brightest assistants—it replaced former recruiting coordinator Erik Bakich with Arizona State's Josh Holliday, and it replaced Holliday this summer with another highly regarded Sun Devil, Travis Jewett. Vandebilt assistant positions are among the highest-paying in college baseball, and the job will be attractive for many of the same reasons playing for Vandy is attractive: the school, the campus, the city, the head coach and the resources.

"I think—and I'm biased, obviously—it's easily the best pitching job in the country, bar none, and there's not even one that's close," Johnson said. "So the appeal of it, even though the timing's not great, (Corbin) will have the pick of the litter."

Vanderbilt wound up hiring Scott Brown away from St. John's to replace Johnson.