The Milwaukee Brewers officially announced the hiring of Derek Johnson as the teams pitching coach and Pat Murphy as the teams bench coach today.
The 44-year-old Johnson replaced Rick Kranitz as pitching coach. He joins the Brewers from the Chicago Cubs, where he served as pitching coordinator from 2013-15. Prior to that role, Johnson spent eleven seasons as pitching coach at Vanderbilt University from 2002-12. Over his last three seasons at Vanderbilt, he served as associated head coach in addition to pitching coach. Among others, Johnson guided the collegiate careers of 2012 Cy Young Award-winner David Price and current Oakland Athletics ace Sonny Gray.
The 56-year-old Murphy replaces Jerry Narron as bench coach. He spent the previous six seasons in the San Diego Padres organization, joining the club as a special assistant to the baseball operations department in 2010. He was moved up to Padres interim manager on June 16.
Murphy had successful college stints as the head coach at Notre Dame (1988-94) and Arizona State (1995-2009). While at Notre Dame, he coached current Brewers manager Craig Counsell.
The Brewers also announced that bullpen coach Lee Tunnell will return to the 2016 staff. The 55-year-old Tunnell is back for a fourth season as bullpen coach. in 2015, the Milwaukee bullpen led the National League in strikeouts (548) and ranked second in winning percentage (23-15 .605), fifth in ERA (3.40) and fifth in opponent batting average (.238).