Johnson is the former pitching coach for the Reds and has been a big league pitching coach in some capacity for almost a decade. In 2013, he left the University of Vanderbilt to become a minor league pitching coordinator with the Cubs. He was then hired as the Brewers’ pitching coach in 2016, and, in 2019, he moved to another team in the NL Central when he was hired as the Reds’ pitching coach. In 2021, he was promoted to director of pitching after the 2021 campaign. He stepped away from the team for personal reasons this past June, and the Reds officially parted ways with him in October. Johnson will now work alongside Mets manager Andy Green and a pitching staff that was hired before last season, including pitching coach Justin Willard and assistant pitching coach Dan McKinney.