If you could hire a hitting coach at MSU, who would it be, and why?

[Really Clark?]

Wes Johnson is a mad man. He's from the Brent Strom/Ron Wolforth school of pitching that specializes in building bigger engines.

Most pitching coaches can be broken down into two different styles: 1. Teaching pitchers how to locate, change speeds, & throw multiple pitches for strikes. This is the style that most professional & college coaches take. 2. This group of pitching coaches build bigger engines & specialize in making the pitcher throw harder & building better, more powerful breaking balls. This group of coaches don't care as much about "pitching" as they do about building MLB prospects & stuff. Wes Johnson belongs to this group of pitching coaches & is the reason why Dallas Baptist consistently has harder throwing pitchers than most any team in America.

Personally, I prefer the second group because I think it produces higher end players and the cream rises higher. The risk of the first style is that the pitching coach focuses so much on command, control, & changing speeds, that the pitcher's stuff actually backs up over time, while the "stuff builders" have the ability to take guys and make them significantly better.

Lastly, the other beauty of the 2nd group of pitching coaches is that they are usually so in tune with bio-mechanics, flexibility, strength, twitch, etc.. that they are actually the best evaluators as well. Because of the in-depth research that they have at their disposal in order teach guys how to throw harder, they are also uniquely qualified to properly evaluate & recruit guys that have the ingredients to throw harder. Simply, they have a better idea of what they are looking for.

I agree with most you are saying here but the last paragraph. There are a bunch of good coaches from your first group that know the bio mechanics as good as any one. Their philosphy doesn't stop them from understanding that or being great talent evaluators. And they use that for control purposes as well. Now, I've always been more of a max effort, stronger, better harder stuff type of guy. Building a strong powerful engine that will last but I do believe a staff needs more than just that type of pitcher. And hopefully the coach is versatile enough to work with control type of pitchers.

[CadaverDawg]

Rouge.

[Smitty]

Turtle Thomas

[engie]

Best slugging teams - past 4 years.
TEAM
New Mexico 0.45775
Samford 0.4515
Tennessee Tech 0.4495
La.-Lafayette 0.445
Western Caro. 0.44425
Dallas Baptist 0.44325
Mercer 0.44325
Austin Peay 0.4415
Eastern Ky. 0.44025
UNCG 0.4395
Morehead St. 0.43825
San Diego 0.432
North Florida 0.431
Southeast Mo. St. 0.42975
Georgia St. 0.42875
LSU 0.42875
Col. of Charleston 0.42625
Delaware St. 0.42325
Furman 0.42075
Arizona St. 0.4205
Nevada 0.41975
Georgia Tech 0.41925
Bryant 0.4185
Delaware 0.4175
James Madison 0.41675
UNCW 0.41475
Richmond 0.4145
Indiana 0.41425
Arizona 0.41325
William & Mary 0.41325
Vanderbilt 0.413
Penn 0.41225
Appalachian St. 0.41175
East Tenn. St. 0.41175
Belmont 0.4115
Jacksonville St. 0.41
Utah Valley 0.40975
Virginia 0.40975
Kentucky 0.40925
UCF 0.408
Troy 0.40775
Kent St. 0.4075
New Mexico St. 0.4075
Cal Poly 0.40725
Illinois St. 0.407
FIU 0.40675
Fla. Atlantic 0.4065
Towson 0.40625
Florida St. 0.406
North Carolina St. 0.40475
Saint Louis 0.40425
Virginia Tech 0.40425
Texas A&M 0.404
Wright St. 0.404
Canisius 0.40375
Florida 0.40325
Milwaukee 0.40275
Southern U. 0.4005
UTSA 0.40025

[Todd4State]

New Mexico has Denver, Colorado conditions. Something to keep in mind.

I don't know if there is something going on at the Albuquerque Airport or what it is.

[ShotgunDawg]

New Mexico has Denver, Colorado conditions. Something to keep in mind.

I don't know if there is something going on at the Albuquerque Airport or what it is.

Correct, Albuquerque's ballpark is actually the highest in minor league baseball. So it's no surprise that New Mexico drops bombs.

Dallas Baptist's ballpark actually has the highest park factor in all of college baseball. It's a band box that built on top of a hill. Home plate there faces due north, which allows balls to get blown out of the park when the wind is coming from the south, which is quite often.