Armed with a master’s degree, Jonas Lovin tutors Cedar Rapids Kernels pitchers

CEDAR RAPIDS — He might be the only coach or manager in the Midwest League with a master’s degree. Which kind of makes you wonder why he’s a coach in the Midwest League.

There’s got to be more money and less grind out there somewhere for an obviously learned guy like Jonas Lovin than what a high-Class A minor league coach earns and endures.

The 26-year-old Cedar Rapids Kernels co-pitching coach has an advanced degree in Organizational Science and Leadership from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He is in his first season in professional baseball after being a pitching coach at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge and Concordia University, an NAIA school in Nebraska.

“It’s been really good. It’s been a really good learning experience,” Lovin said. “The Twins are a very forward-thinking organization, and they’ve done a really good job from the top down educating their coaches and having that trickle down to the affiliates. It’s been really fun, a really good learning experience for me. Been really challenging at times, but good challenging.”

Lovin is from Minden, Neb., a small town in the south-central part of the state. He played college baseball at NCAA Division II Augustana (S.D.) and D-I Nebraska-Omaha before beginning his coaching career.

As you can guess by him obtaining his master’s, Lovin expected to be a college coach. But he had some pro connections with the Minnesota Twins.

He played at Augustana with Bryce Berg, a former Kernels hitting coach who is now roving minor league hitting instructor for the Twins, and for Mark Moriarty, who was Kernels co-pitching coach last season. That was his ‘in.’

Minnesota has employed a mix of guys in recent seasons with pro ball experience and guys without pro ball experience on their minor league coaching staffs. Carlos Hernandez, who pitched professionally, is co-pitching coach in Cedar Rapids with Lovin.

Kernels hitting coach Corbin Day, a Cedar Rapids resident, has a similar story to Lovin in that he coached last year at Kirkwood Community College before getting a professional opportunity.

“(Pro ball) crossed my mind when Mo (Moriarty) got a gig with the Twins,” Lovin said. “It was like ‘Ah, would I ever be open to that if something came open?’ This seemed like the right opportunity at the right time with a lot of good people.

“(College) was kind of the expectation when I started. But it’s all the same. It’s all getting to impact people and solve problems together. It’s not a lot different. But I just never thought this would be my path. It wasn’t ever on my radar.”

The Kernels improved to 60-38 overall with Wednesday’s win. They rank fourth in the 12-team Midwest League in team earned run average and second in WHIP (walks plus hits to innings pitched).

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It’s been a good season with a lot of individual growth. On the pitching side, Lovin and Hernandez get credit for that.

“We don’t really have specific (individual) duties. It’s a very shared thing,” Lovin said. “There is a lot of communication between us on what needs done. It’s kind of like a group project in college. You kind of split stuff, kind of ‘Hey, how can we split stuff and take work off each other’s plates?’

“We both do different things really well, so finding and navigating like ‘Maybe you’d be better at handling this. You’d be better at handling that.’ It’s been good. I think the guys kind of get the best of both worlds because we’re very different.”

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Cedar Rapids rallied from a 3-0 hole here, tying the game in the fifth on back-to-back home runs by Emmanuel Rodriguez (a two-run shot) and Kala’i Rosario. Rodriguez hit another homer in the seventh.

He has 13 this season, Rosario 16, which is tied for the league lead with Fort Wayne’s Nathan Martorella going into Wednesday night’s play. The teams play again Thursday night at 6:35.

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