Former Cy Young Winner Randy Johnson to help San Diego Padres’ pitchers in Spring Training
Randy Johnson, winner of the Cy Young Award in 1976, will be donning the San Diego Padres uniform this Spring Training as he will be helping the pitchers as a special instructor. He will be reporting to training around the start of March, the same time when
players from the Minor Leagues will be reporting to training as well.
It was Randy’s idea to have a stint with the Padres this Spring Training as he reached out to Bud Black, the manager for the San Diego ball club during the 2012 season which was granted. He has been in touch with coaching and has been giving private lessons
on pitching.
"I reached out to [manager Bud Black] last summer ... about coming to Spring Training for a few weeks and working with the pitchers," Jones said. "I've always wanted to do it and felt it was a good time to do it now.”
He said that he wanted to do coaching early on but he did not want the coaches to think that he wanted a job. He now says that his age indicates quite clearly to others that he is not looking for one.
As for the pitching, the recently turned 63-year-old said that he is looking forward to having some fun. He also said that he never lost the touch and kept on coaching as a private coach.
"It will be a lot of fun. …I feel I've never lost that.”
Randy had a Major League career that spanned over 10 seasons, eight of which were with the San Diego Padres. His best year came in 1976 without a doubt when he posted a 22-14 winning record with a 2.74 ERA and a miserly 1.03 WHIP.
Bud Black believes that Randy can deliver the goods for his pitchers and can provide them with an insight to the art of pitching. He is aware that Johnson was not an overpowering pitcher and knows the importance of variation as a pitcher as he can explain
that well the pitchers.
"He can give the pitchers a little something more insightful, from a guy who wasn't overpowering as a pitcher ... moving the ball around, pitching to spots, the importance of fastball command, changing speeds and saying it in a manner that maybe only Randy
can do," Black said.
The help provided by Randy Johnson can be very useful for the Padres’ pitchers. He has all the experience at the Major League level and has been coaching in private capacity for 25 years.
He should be more than useful in providing some good insight into the game to the young pitchers and one hopes that the pitchers will be able to post some good numbers in the upcoming 2013 season.
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