According to Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner, the Orioles will promote Sherman Johnson to the major league coaching staff. On offense, the 34-year-old will collaborate with hitting coach Cody Asche and assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph. This morning, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com predicted that Johnson could be promoted.
Johnson will be working on an MLB staff for the first time. He has advanced fast through the coaching levels. He was still playing professionally in the independent American Association in 2022. He was a Florida State product who played in the minor leagues for nine years. Johnson briefly appeared in the major leagues with the Angels in 2018. He went hitless in ten at-bats. In the minors, he shown good plate discipline but limited power as a left-handed batter.
Johnson didn’t start coaching until 2023. Baltimore hired him as a hitting instructor for their Double-A team in Bowie. He worked as a minor league hitting coordinator this past season. It appears that he quickly established rapport with a number of Orioles prospects. Johnson previously coached Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad, and Coby Mayo for Bowie and should have the opportunity to work with them again at Camden Yards.
Baltimore has chosen a rather inexperienced bunch of hitting teachers. Asche, 34, is taking over as lead hitting coach for the first time after serving as an assistant on Brandon Hyde’s staff for two years. Joseph, 33, is entering his second season as an MLB coach. This year, he served as an assistant with the Mariners.
