The Angels are cleaning up the pitching side of their coaching staff. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the Halos have fired pitching coach Mike Maddux, assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott and bullpen coach Dom Chiti. The team announced the three layoffs shortly after the initial report. Double-A pitching coach Tim Leveque and assistant pitching coordinator Michael Wuertz will assume the roles of interim pitching coach and interim bullpen coach, respectively, according to the team. Interim general manager John Mozeliak made the following statement: “After spending time discussing with [manager Kurt Suzuki] Where we are as a coaching staff and where we want to go in the future, we felt it was best to make a change. With seven weeks left, we plan to use this time to evaluate what additional steps are needed to elevate our entire pitching program and better position ourselves for success in the future.” While the Angels have made some progress as a personnel this year, the overall results haven’t been great. Reid Detmers and José Soriano have enjoyed solid seasons under this group, and since-traded relievers like Chase Silseth and Ryan Zeferjahn have had standout performances. Even with those high marks, however, the Angels have the MLB’s seventh-worst ERA (4.53) and worst walk rate in the game (11.1%). Part of that is simply the personnel they were assigned to work with. Even the best coaches in the world can’t put together solid performances when presented with mediocre talent, and Anaheim’s pitching staff (particularly the bullpen) leaned too heavily on a thin farm system and veteran journeymen nearing the end of their MLB careers. a one-year contract after the 2025 season. He had been with the division rival Rangers, who granted the Angels permission to talk to Maddux even as Texas simultaneously made an effort to retain him, either in his current role as pitching coach or in a new role within the organization. They clearly could not reach an agreement and Maddux headed west, to Anaheim. pitching coach for the Brewers, Rangers (twice), Nationals and Cardinals. He logged at least five seasons total with Milwaukee, Texas and St. Louis and spent two years in DC Maddux, who will turn 65 later this month, enjoyed a 15-year career in the majors and pitched for nine different teams. He posted a 4.05 ERA in 861 2/3 innings in the majors, working as a starter and. reliever. Even with that long career, he is best known for his coaching acumen. The 2026 season was Maddux’s 24th consecutive year as a major league pitching coach. Scott, 58, is no stranger to coaching groups of disappointing names. He spent two years as the Rockies’ bullpen coach and four as the head pitching coach, logging six seasons in total on MLB staffs between 2020 and 2020. 25. He had previously been Colorado’s minor league pitching coordinator. As was the case in Denver, Scott wasn’t given much to work with under Suzuki and the Halos. His hiring in Anaheim was something of a full-circle moment in his baseball career, as his only major league experience as a pitcher came with the 1993 Angels, when he pitched 20 innings in 16 relief appearances. coaching in the big leagues and before that was a scout and minor league coach. He has been a bullpen coach with the Rangers, Orioles and Mets in the past, not to mention a previous stint as the Angels’ bullpen coach, from 2021 to 2022. The three now-fired Angels coaches have extensive Major League experience, much of it under the most prolific coaches of the current generation. along with Bruce Bochy, Dusty Baker and Ron Washington, he was Bud Black’s pitching coach for several years in Colorado. Chiti has coached on a couple of teams coached by Buck Showalter. All of them are respected veterans in the dugouts who should be able to leverage that experience to generate new opportunities in short order, should they wish to continue coaching. known throughout the industry.
