The Minnesota Twins got quite a surprise over the weekend when it was learned that pitching coach Wes Johnson would be leaving his position and taking on the same role with the Tigers of Louisiana State University.
The baseball world was shocked to learn that Johnson would be departing a first-place team and instead leaving to take on a college gig.
Johnson will serve as the Twins’ pitching coach through Thursday.
In fact, according to Twins insider Dan Hayes on Twitter, many on the Twins’ flight to Cleveland were unaware of the news until recently.
Hayes says that the team held a mandatory meeting upon its arrival at their hotel in Cleveland.
Many on board the #MNTwins flight were unaware of the news that pitching coach Wes Johnson is leaving. News broke just as the team took off from Minneapolis.
Team held a mandatory meeting for staff and players once they arrived at their downtown Cleveland hotel.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) June 27, 2022
Processing The Shock
This is shocking news for everybody around baseball, but especially those associated with the Twins.
Nobody would have guessed that this was going to happen, but here we are now with the news that Johnson is leaving a first-place team for a college team.
One can only imagine the shock that people on the flight felt when the news broke, as it became public knowledge just as the team was taking off from Minneapolis.
Many are probably wondering why Johnson is choosing to leave mid-season, especially when the Twins are leading the American League Central division.
Their four-game set with the Cleveland Guardians this week is a crucial set in the division race.
The timing is a bit awkward.
But the Twins were probably shocked to learn this news on the team plane.
It’s very possible and likely that the news didn’t come from Johnson himself.
That certainly adds to the shock a little bit.
Perhaps the team meeting helped clear things up a little bit.
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