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Cubs hire Vanderbilt pitching coach Derek Johnson as minor league pitching coordinator

I don't post here nearly often enough, but one school I have raved about in the posts I do make is Vanderbilt. For years I have talked about how this school seems to be way, way ahead of other universities are coaching pitching, and they have not been shy about letting everyone know. Google Vanderbilt baseball and you will find multiple videos of how they train their athletes, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. We're talking the same pitching coach from the same school that has pumped out early round talents like David Price, Sonny Gray, Grayson Garvin, Sam Selman, and so on over just the past 5 years


The Cubs have made a bunch of hires of the past year that I am ecstatic about. James Rowson is the new hitting coach after leaving the Yankees, where he was a roving hitting instructor. Chris Bosio and Dale Sveum left the Brewers, who put together some absolutely excellent coaching staffs in the mid-late 2000's, Bosio being someone who worked a little bit with Mike Maddux (imo the best pitching coach in baseball).

This is exciting stuff. It's small, it does nothing that the casual fan will notice, but holy shit is it huge for this franchise. Pitching is just so hard to get a hang of in the first place, and anything that gives you even a small edge is huge.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/awards/assistant-coach-of-the-year/2010/2610972.html

http://blogs.tennessean.com/vanderbilt/2012/05/26/interview-with-vanderbilt-pitching-coach-derek-johnson/

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