Angels fire pitching coach Mike Maddux and two assistants in staff shakeup
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The Angels fired pitching coach Mike Maddux and two other major league pitching coaches Tuesday, the latest decision in interim general manager John Mozeliak’s aggressive push to revitalize the moribund franchise.
One week after trading eight players off the major league roster to launch a long-overdue rebuilding effort, Mozeliak fired Maddux, assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott and bullpen coach Dom Chiti.
The Angels have a 4.53 earned-run average, ranking 24th among the 30 major league teams. They lead the majors in walks, and they have blown 20 of 36 save opportunities. They posted a 4.89 ERA last season, ranking 28th.
The Angels have the worst record in the major leagues and are on pace for the first 100-loss season in franchise history. Their hitters have fared no better than their pitchers: The Angels rank 26th in the majors in runs scored.
Brandon Nimmo drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 4-1 to snap a five-game road losing streak.
When Mozeliak joined the Angels in June, he said he had told manager Kurt Suzuki and the coaches “they’re all fine for this year.”
However, he told reporters at Angel Stadium that he felt compelled to make Tuesday’s coaching changes after feedback from Suzuki, players and organizational staff members that the available technology and data was not being properly used by the pitching coaches.
“I think there was becoming some level of frustration with the inconsistency of that,” Mozeliak said.
The interim pitching coach, Tim Leveque, will be the Angels’ sixth in seven years.
Suzuki’s contract expires at the end of the season. If the Angels hire a new manager for next season, he would become the team’s sixth manager in eight years.
Maddux, a pitching coach for five major league teams, and Scott each was in his first season in Anaheim. Chiti is a longtime associate of Perry Minasian, fired as the Angels’ general manager in June.
The interim pitching coach: Leveque, the Angels’ double-A pitching coach and a longtime pitching instructor under Mozeliak with the St. Louis Cardinals. The interim bullpen coach: Michael Wuertz, the Angels’ assistant minor league pitching coordinator.
Mozeliak said last week that he had yet to discuss with the Angels owner Arte Moreno and team president Molly Jolly whether he would continue as the Angels’ top baseball operations official, although many baseball insiders believe he would like to do so. The Angels have committed only to filling that position by the end of the season.
