Angels GM Reveals More About Pitching Coaching Changes

Los Angeles Angels interim GM John Mozeliak just changed course on his plans for the coaching staff in a big way, as he fired pitching coach Mike Maddux, assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott and bullpen coach Dom Chiti. All three were said to be safe until the end of the season at first, but now that's changed completely. 

Mozeliak initially talked about Maddux and company not using technology enough, and the other shoe dropped earlier this week when he discussed the promotions of Tim Leveque, who was the Angels’ Double-A pitching coach at Rocket City and minor league assistant pitching coordinator Michael Wuertz. Leveque becomes the interim pitching coach, with Wuertz slotting in as interim bullpen coach. 

“My philosophy's been to just try to use as much information as I can, because ultimately, at the end of the day, it's about making the right decision,” Leveque said in a followup piece written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “What my instinct tells me, what information the organization has, how I know the guys, and just trying to use everything that we have to try to make the best decisions possible.”

It takes a bit of reading between the lines here, but Mozeliak’s comments revealed that  Leveque especially is his guy, as he has ties to his new pitching coach from his days with the St. Louis Cardinals. 

“First off, the internal group recommended him,” Mozeliak said about Leveque, although he did add that others in the Angels’ organization vouched for him, according to Bollinger.“But there was my dotted-line connection to him as well. But I think he's a really smart guy. I think he understands where the game's at and he'll be a good resource for [manager Kurt] Suzuki moving forward.”

Leveque knows pitches like Ryan Johnson, Blake Weiman and Luke Murphy, all of whom pitched for him at Rocket City. Wuertz, meanwhile, has been with the Angels for 11 years in a variety of roles, so he knows pitchers like Reid Detmers, Ben Joyce, Samy Natera Jr., Walbert Ureña and George Klassen.

Manager Kurt Suzuki agreed with the moves, probably because he had to to keep his job. He was hired as a lame-duck by now-fired GM Perry Minasian, and in a lot of ways it’s sort of amazing that he still has a job at all. 

“The positive thing is they know most players that are here because they had them,” Suzuki said. “It helped with Murph, talking with Tim and debating whether to go Fermin or Murphy. And he gave me a good insight on Murphy being more of a reverse guy, so we stuck with Murphy and it worked out.”

Leveque’s statement about all this landed on the bland and generic side, but the comments from starter Yusei Kikuchi were intriguing. He's about to return from a rehab assignment, and he mentioned data as well, which is a bit of a tell about the analytics part. 

“I feel they're very data-oriented, and we had a very good discussion about my strengths and planning,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Koki Goto. “And I feel like I can relate to them, pitching this season and in the future.”