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“So you are trying to find a good, reliable, knowledgeable pitching coach for yourself or your son? Well there are a few things you need to remember when choosing who will be giving you instruction. It is very important to take your time and consider all your available options when selecting a pitching instructor, as there are a lot of them out there. First, you must consider what your intentions for hiring a pitching coach. Do you want to throw harder? Develop a new pitch? Work on your footwork? Etc. Different coaches might specialize in different areas of the pitching game, and it is important to find a coach that will be able to really help you work at what you want to accomplish.” "]http://www.thecompletepitcher.com/pitching_coaches.htm[/url] 2019 Wes Johnson – our new hire who breaks the mold and gives us a college teacher, someone who has studied the stats, observed and researched and hopefully knows how to transfer his ideas to the pitchers themselves. We have nothing but hope and wait and see. "When he was hired at Arkansas the Razorbacks sports site said this, "Known nationally for his player development and ability to increase velocity throughout his staff, Johnson arrives in Fayetteville after serving as the pitching coach last season with Mississippi State. Before that, he spent four years at Dallas Baptist University, helping build the Patriots into a perennial national baseball power. “I am pleased to add Wes Johnson, one of the nation’s premier pitching coaches, to our staff,” Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn said. “He is an experienced college baseball coach and has played an instrumental role in the recent successes of Mississippi State and Dallas Baptist. Wes has developed a stellar reputation throughout the country, based on his ability to develop his players, both individually, and his pitching staffs, collectively, into some of the most successful performers in college baseball. I am happy to welcome Coach Johnson and his family back to his home state of Arkansas and look forward to getting him on campus to get started with our program.” https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/wes-johnson-hired-as-new-razorback-pitching-coach/ 2018 Garvin Alston – short term solution who I expected to last longer than the hitting coach since his arms were doing better than the bats. After pitching six games for the Rockies he immediately began to coach in both the majors and the minors. The Twins made him one of there big new changes, but obviously the fact that the pitching was succeeding more than the hitting did not save his job. 2017 Neil Allen was 58 – 90 with eight teams after being the Mets closer and finishing his career with 75 saves. After his career he was a minor league pitching coach with the Jays, Yankees, and Rays before joining the Twins. An arrest and suspension for a DUI led to his downfall and dismissal. 2016 Neil Allen/Eric Rasmussen Rasmussen was the Twins Minor league pitching coach who had to step up to the majors to fill in for Allen. 2015 Neil Allen 2002 – 2015 Rick Anderson Rated by Bleacher Report as the 43rd best pitching coach of all time. He “preaching a theory based on control, pitching to contact and allowing the defense behind the pitchers to do their job.” 1986 – 2001 Dick Such 16 years with the Twins after three with Texas. He only pitched in 21 games in his career, all with the Washington Senators. He was Tom Kelly’s right hand man and is ranked #16 all time among pitching coaches. BR writes that “for the next 16 seasons oversaw a Twins' staff that didn't always lead in major categories, but through his guidance and theories based on control and command, kept Twins' teams in games longer than most.” “Such helped guide pitching staffs that were instrumental in World Series championships in 1987 and 1991, and nurtured pitchers such as Scott Erickson, Kevin Tapani, Eddie Guadardo, Brad Radke and Johan Santana.” With a cup of coffee in the majors, Anderson was a career coach with 13 years in the minors before coaching in the majors. 1985 Johnny Podres/Dick Such The manager that was hired and caused Johnny Podres to quit in protest was Ray Miller. Miller was a complete flop as a manager, too bad he had the wrong job – according to Bleacher Report Miller, when he was with the Orioles was the 13th best pitching coach of all time. 1984 Johnny Podres Johnny won 148 games and accumulated 30 WAR during his career and then became a Minnesota Twins pitching coach. But he had an alcohol problem in in 1983 he left the team for treatment. “Podres is 50 years old. He said all the cocktails finally caught up with him. ''I was getting sick,'' he said. ''It got to the point where my stomach was killing me.'' Finally, one night in May, Podres went to Dr. Leonard Michienzi, the Twins' physician, and told him about his stomach pains. ''Johnny was acutely ill with a lot of abdominal pain,'' Dr. Michienzi said. ''It could have been a number of things, but I knew Johnny had some ... drinking habits. I had talked to him for two years about it. I checked him into Hennepin County Medical Center, and they found that he had pancreatitis. Pancreatitis and drinking don't go together. I told Johnny he couldn't drink, but I know him and he was going to drink. I was afraid of what might happen. I had a friend who kept drinking and died. We discussed it, and he agreed to have the treatment.'' One Is Too Many After he entered St. Mary's, Podres finally admitted to himself that he was an alcoholic. ''You've got to admit it to yourself,'' he said. ''Then you can do something about it.'' He spent four weeks at St. Mary's, leaving June 21 with a new body, a new mind and a fresh outlook, but also with a new battle ahead.” NYT July 30, 1983. 1983 Johnny Podres/Jim Shellenback 1981 – 1982 Johnny Podres 1978 – 1980 Camilo Pascual The Twins great pitcher who had a 174 – 170 record pitching for terrible Senator Teams before they became the Twins. He had 40.9 WAR and a 3.63 career ERA. He is in the Cuban baseball HOF, the Latino HOF and the Twins HOF. 1976 – 1977 Don McMahon was a relief specialist for the Milwaukee Braves during their 1957 – 1958 world series years and continued to pitch relief until 1974 when he was 44. In 18 years he won 90 games and had a 2.96 era. 1975 Lee Stange Is rated as the 48th best pitching coach of all time by Bleacher Report. He pitched 10 years and served primarily as Boston’s pitching coach after 14 years. 1974 Buck Rogers had a nine-year career as a catcher and became a manager in 1980 and managed four years with three teams. He was a bullpen coach before taking over the pitching staff. 1972 - 1973 Al Worthington was a great relief pitcher for the Twins. For six years out of a 14-year active pitching career. He and Johnny Klippstein handled the bullpen and combined for 73 games in the world series year. In his first year Lee Stange who would also be a pitching coach was on the staff with him. 1970 – 1971 Marv Grissom was in the majors for ten years and was 47 – 45 for his career and appeared in 356 games. He also missed four seasons in the service. In 1954 he paired with Hoyt Wilhelm in the Giants bullpen. He had a 15 year career as a pitching coach. 1969 Art Fowler Was ranked #17 best pitching coach of all time by Bleacher report. Fowler followed Billy Martin wherever he went and because of that was a pitching coach for five different teams. He was with Martin all four times he was a Yankee manager and is credited with helping Guidry with his amazing season. 1967 – 1968 Early Wynn A Hall of Fame pitcher with exactly 300 wins. He hung on until he got the magic number at least two years beyond when he should have retired, but he was a workhorse and deserves his HOF status. He began with the Senators and had his best years with Cleveland. He would then go one to manage in the Twins Minor leagues. 1965 – 1966 Johnny Sain - Spahn and Sain and pray for rain was the motto for the Boston Braves when he was pitching. Then he became the 7th best pitching coach in history according to Bleacher Reports. He was a success for eight teams and the record of improvement in pitching was amazing. His problem was with management and his own irascible personality. He wore out his record regularly like he did with the World Series Twins in 1966 after going to the series in 1965. In Minnesota he guided Mudcat Grant to a 20 win season back when wins counted. 1962 – 1964 – Gordon Maltberger “compiled a 20–13 record in 135 appearances, mostly as a relief pitcher, with a 2.70 earned run average and 136 strikeouts.” He died 10 years later in Texas. 1961 – Eddie Lopat won 166 games and had his best years with the Yankees. His career era was 3.21. He lost his position as Yankee pitching coach when they let Stengel go. He was with the Twins one year and then the As for a year as pitching coaches. So we have a range of no major leagues to Hall of Fame, mostly pitchers, one catcher in the role of pitching coaches. Three are ranked by bleacher report in the top 50 of all time, but who really knows? Like managers we tend to judge by wins and losses, but pitching coaches can only work with what is given to them and cannot field or hit for the pitcher. What is their role? Communications and cheer leading. Observe, film, make sure the pitch maintains the repetition that is his most effective. Watch the feet on the rubber, the grip, the arm angle, and the release point. Cheer lead, talk to the manager, have the bullpen players ready. Maybe the important thing is to manage the manager. The full Bleacher Report top 50 can be found here - https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1047146-the-50-best-mlb-pitching-coaches-of-all-time#slide50