Red Sox newest hire from Driveline, Johnny Reina; ‘I’m going to wear whatever hat they need me to’
Baseball is a sport that breathes heritage. All across the game, that heritage is passed down between players, coaches, management, ownership, fans, and more. Getting to grow up around a major league ballpark is a kids dream.
That’s the dream that newly hired Red Sox Minor League Assistant Hitting Coach Johnny Reina got to live, going to Citizens Bank Park with his childhood friend and his father Ramon Henderson, who was the bullpen coach for the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I was lucky enough growing up, age 8 through Little League or so, I was going to the ballpark everyday,” Reina said. “I got to hit underneath in the cages, I was on the field shagging during batting practice, so the love of the game was established very early on for me.”
That love for the game did stick with Reina, as he eventually committed to Division I program Morehead State University as an infielder. After a year with the Eagles, he transferred to Division II program Georgia Southwestern State University where he medically redshirted, followed by a stint at the NJCAA level with RCSJ-Glouster.
He closed out his athletic career at Tusculum University. During his time with Tusculum, while dealing with injuries that kept him off the field for extended period’s, Reina molded himself into a player-coach.
“If you walk into that clubhouse or walk into that workplace, you want to be a great teammate,” Reina said. “I realized I needed a way to help and compete still, without being on the field.”
Reina began by creating scouting reports that included the opposing starting pitchers tendencies, if he was tipping certain pitches, and other tells the pitcher might portray. That eventually evolved from work he’d show to teammates, to full scouting reports that he would present to the coaching staff.
Following his collegiate career, Reina set out to find a job in baseball. While attending the Winter Meetings in 2017, he landed his gig in the sport, just not the exact one he envisioned.
“One of the keynote speakers [at Winter Meetings] was Rob Crain, he was with the Red Sox organization for many years,” Reina said. “He came up to me and said, ‘You have a good personality, have you ever considered going into sales?’”
Shortly after that conversation, Reina was hired by Crain as a Sales Executive for the Pawtucket Red Sox.
“I would do the sales stuff during the day, some scouting stuff after, then work at a mom and pop pizza shop during the night, washing the pots and pans, cleaning the bathrooms, and whatever else,” Reina said.
All the while, Reina was still staying hands on with the sport. The former ball player was spending time with Antonelli Baseball in Boston and eventually becoming the Director of Player Development at a larger training facility in New Jersey. Reina also began creating instructional videos that included things from how to pick up tells when a pitcher is tipping pitches, to fielding drills, and hitting mechanics.
Come November 2023, Reina was again interviewing for jobs in baseball, which is when he saw an internship posting from Driveline Baseball. One of the industry leading baseball development organizations, which then had just the two facilities in Seattle, Washington and Phoenix Arizona, is an extremely popular training ground for professional and collegiate baseball players.
“I didn’t really initially realize how badly I wanted the job,” Reina said. “I originally applied for Arizona, but they told me they wanted me to go to Washington. At first I wasn’t so sure about it, but I was sure that it was a place that I can learn and get better, so I ultimately drove across the country in three days and started on the fourth.”
Part of Reina’s initial work at the beginning of his time with Driveline involved creating a study on workload for hitters, which he conducted in collaboration with Driveline’s Research and Development and High Performance departments. While workload tracking is easier for pitchers, it presents unique challenges for hitters.
“Hitters feel like they can hit forever and they can just go through the motions that they want to at their own volumes,” Reina said. “So it’s about finding the balance of how to get a guy better in a competitive environment while still making sure that there’s not diminishing return.”
Reina looked at how to find the balance between reps and sets with weighted bats, what the environment needed to be, and which days of the week the players should be lifting and training. While he did not find they were not doing anything wrong, the idea was to optimize the training, not outright change anything.
“What I found and what the data told me was that you should be utilizing the bat-to-ball days as a recovery day as you are training bat speed,” Reina said. “If you start operating at slower paces or a little less intent, it will start to train your body to move less intent and not swing quite as fast and not operate and rotate as fast.”
Following this research, Reina was trusted with more research along with working alongside some of the pro baseball talent. In this time, Reina wore many different hats, though was always willing.
Eventually when looking around again for job openings affiliated with the MLB, Reina found an opening with the Red Sox. In recent years, the Red Sox have hired many former members of Driveline. The list includes:
Jason Ochart - Former Drivline Director of Hitting and current Red Sox Director of Hitting Development and Program Design
John Soteropulous - Former Drivline Hitting Trainer and current Red Sox Hitting Coordinator
JP Fasone - Former Drivline Hitting Trainer and current Red Sox High-A Minor League Hitting Coach
Kyle Boddy - Founder/Owner of Driveline Baseball and current Red Sox Interim Director of Baseball Sciences / Special Advisor to Chief Baseball Officer
David Besky - Former Driveline Pincipal Data Scientist/Pitching Trainer and current Red Sox Assistant Director, Player Development
Collin Hetzler - Former Driveline Pitching Trainer and current Red Sox Triple-A Hitting Coach
Kyle Wasserberger -Former Driveline Principal Sport Scientist and current Red Sox Lead Biomechanist
After receiving a text from Ochart that he would be getting an interview, he was also informed by Soteropulous that the organization was looking for someone in the role that could speak Spanish. Promptly, Reina took the initiative and went out and bought Rosetta Stone and has been learning Spanish.
“I’ve really been working on my Spanish now so, Hablo un poquito, now,” Reina said.
Reina also recalls driving home from practice in college with his Spanish speaking teammate everyday where they would teach each other their first languages.
Reina eventually interviewed and was hired. He recalls being so excited for the interview, reflecting on his younger self and his love for the Red Sox. Despite growing up in Pennsylvania, it’s a straightforward answer as to how he became a Red Sox fan.
“Sunday Night Baseball is how that happened,” Reina said. “I remember when I was young I wasn’t allowed to stay up late unless it was Sunday Night Baseball, Red Sox and Yankees, spending time watching with my dad. I remember one of the games Pedro threw an absolute gem, Papi homered, Manny homered and I was just like, this is awesome.”
Now, Reina will be joining the organization, this time in an on-field capacity, as the Double-A Sea Dogs Assistant Hitting Coach. More of his role will be understood once he arrive to Spring Training, like any other player and coach.
“Primarily, I’m going to wear whatever hat they need me to and assist Chris [Hess, Double-A Hitting Coach],” Reina said.
He also largely credits his time with Driveline for being able to have a better understanding for biomechanics and being able to take what he’s learned to help himself individualize and engineer as his players require. He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of the amazing culture at Driveline, working alongside colleagues Tanner Stokey, Andrew Aydt, Zack Jones, Maxx Garrett, Brandon Dim, and Jacob Hirsh.
“I think my strongest suit as a person and as a coach is building authentic and genuine relationships with people and prioritizing relationship first,” Reina said. “I’m a big believer in people need to know you care, before they care you know.”
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