The Los Angeles Angels, at the bottom of the major league standings, fired pitching coach Mike Maddux, bullpen coach Dom Chiti and assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott on Tuesday.
The team installed Tim Leveque as interim pitching coach and Michael Wuertz as interim bullpen coach.
“My goal was not to make any staffing changes until the season ended,” said John Mozeliak, the Angels baseball operations consultant and interim general manager. “However, after discussions with the coaches, interviews with players, reflection, self-reflection on where we are, we decided it was time to make a change.
“We have 48 days left in this season. We’re going to play 43 games. I view this as an opportunity. I see this as a chance for us to make a difference. Expectations to implement our processes and use all our tools will be mandated.”
Going into Tuesday, the Angels had the worst record in baseball at 45-74 and were 15 1/2 games behind the American League West-leading Houston Astros and 15 games out of the AL wild-card race.
The Angels ranked 11th in the AL and 24th in the majors with a 4.51 ERA. They were first in the majors in most walks (508) and third in wild pitches (48), though seventh in most strikeouts (1,064). They were 24th in quality starts (34).
Opposing hitters were batting .236 against the staff, the eighth-lowest figure in the majors.
Mozeliak reinforced the notion of leaning into the organization’s strengths to close out the year.
“Our research and development team upstairs, they’re providing a lot of really useful things we can be taking advantage of,” Mozeliak said. “And I think moving forward, which is really where our energy has to be, is how to make this a state-of-the-art place for player growth. Because what you don’t want to do is have players outsourcing those types of things. You want it to be in the internal model, and hopefully we can accomplish that.”
Maddux joined the Angels in the offseason after serving as pitching coach with the Astros, Washington Nationals, St. Louis Cardinals and two separate tenures with the Texas Rangers, including the 2023 World Series champions. The Rangers led the majors in ERA in 2025 (3.47), but afterward parted ways with manager Bruce Bochy and replaced him with Skip Schumaker.
Maddux, who turns 65 on Aug. 27, pitched 15 years in the majors (1986-2000) for nine different teams, though not the Angels. The right-hander is the older brother of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux.
Chiti, 67, was a left-hander in the minor leagues from 1976-81. A coach at various levels starting in 1982, Chiti worked for the Angels from 2020-22, for the New York Mets in 2023, and then again for the Angels starting in the 2024 season as their minor league pitching coordinator before becoming the bullpen coach this season.
Scott, who turned 58 on Aug. 6, is a right-hander who pitched one major league season in 1993 for the then-California Angels. He was on the staff of the Colorado Rockies for the 2020-25 seasons.
Leveque, 45, joined the organization this season as Double-A Rocket City’s pitching coach after spending the previous 20 seasons with the Cardinals organization. A 1999 draft pick by the Detroit Tigers out of high school, Leveque pitched at the University of Michigan (2000-03).
Wuertz, 47, is in his 11th season with the Angels organization in various capacities and was serving as the minor league assistant pitching coordinator. The right-hander pitched in the majors for the Chicago Cubs (2004-08) and Oakland Athletics (2009-11).
–Field Level Media
Comments