Derek Johnson (baseball)


Derek Johnson is an American professional baseball coach. He is the pitching coach for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball. He has also served as the pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers of MLB and in college baseball for the Eastern Illinois Panthers, Southern Illinois Salukis, Stetson Hatters, and Vanderbilt Commodores.

Biography

Johnson graduated from University High School in Normal, Illinois, in 1989. He attended Eastern Illinois University, where he played college baseball for the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
After graduating from Eastern Illinois, he remained with the program as a pitching coach for the 1994 season. He coached the Southern Illinois Salukis of Southern Illinois University from 1995 through 1997, and the Stetson Hatters of Stetson University from 1998 through 2001.
Johnson was pitching coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team from 2002 to 2012. In 2010, he was named the ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year. In 2012, he left Vanderbilt to be the minor league pitching coordinator for the Chicago Cubs. Prior to the 2016 season, the Milwaukee Brewers hired Johnson to be their pitching coach. After the 2018 season he quit the job with the Brewers to take on the same position with the Cincinnati Reds. He was named the 2019 Baseball America Major League Coach of the Year.