Los Angeles didn't wait for the offseason to start swinging the axe. On Tuesday, the Angels fired pitching coach Mike Maddux, assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott and bullpen coach Dom Chiti in one swoop, a staff-wide shakeup dropped in the middle of a lost August. Jeff Passan broke the news first, and the confirmations piled up fast from Ken Rosenthal, Jon Heyman and Mark Feinsand within minutes.
The Los Angeles Angels fired pitched coach Mike Maddux, assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott and bullpen coach Dom Chiti, sources tell ESPN. Maddux joined them in the offseason and was working on a one-year contract. Angels pitchers have a 4.53 ERA and the most walks in MLB.
The numbers explain the timing. Angels pitchers own MLB's most walks and a 4.53 ERA — bottom-of-the-barrel stuff for a rotation and bullpen that were supposed to be a fixable piece of a rebuild. That's not a one-week slump; it's been the story of the season, and it's part of why Los Angeles has been stuck with the worst record in baseball as it stares down an 11th straight losing year.
Source confirms: The Angels have fired pitching coach Mike Maddux, assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott and bullpen coach Dom Chiti. Announcement imminent. First: @JeffPassan.
Maddux's exit stings a little extra because of how it started. He left the Rangers this past offseason to take the Angels job, walking away from a Texas staff he'd helped build into one of the best in baseball, with a World Series ring from 2023 on his resume. A 15-year MLB pitcher turned respected staff architect for the Brewers, Nationals, Cardinals and twice for the Rangers, Maddux was brought in as a stabilizing veteran voice. Instead, he was working on a one-year deal that ran out in under a season.
The Angels didn't leave the roles empty. Tim Leveque, who'd just spent this season as pitching coach for Double-A Rocket City after years in the Cardinals system, was elevated to interim pitching coach. Michael Wuertz, an 11-year veteran of the Angels' minor league system, steps in as interim bullpen coach.
Team announces Tim Leveque as interim pitching coach and Michael Wuertz as interim bullpen coach.
Interim GM John Mozeliak framed it as a conversation with manager Kurt Suzuki about where the staff stands and where it needs to go — corporate language for a franchise that's run out of patience watching walks pile up in a lost season. Whether Leveque and Wuertz get the interim tag removed, or whether this is just the first domino in a bigger offseason overhaul, is the next thing to watch as the Angels play out the string toward yet another October on the outside looking in.