Angels Fire Mike Maddux, Darryl Scott, Dom Chiti

While the Angels have made some strides as a staff this year, the overall results haven’t been great. Reid Detmers and José Soriano have enjoyed strong seasons under this group, and since-traded relievers like Chase Silseth and Ryan Zeferjahn have had breakout performances. Even with those high notes, however, the Angels have MLB’s seventh-worst ERA (4.53) and the game’s worst walk rate (11.1%). Some of that is simply due to the personnel with which they were given to work. Even the best coaches in the world can’t coax strong performances when presented with lackluster talent, and Anaheim’s pitching staff (particularly the bullpen) leaned far too heavily on a thin farm system and journeymen veterans who are nearing the end of their MLB careers.

Maddux joined the Angels on a one-year deal following the 2025 season. He’d been with the division-rival Rangers, who granted the Angels permission to speak to Maddux even as Texas simultaneously made an effort to retain him — either in his existing pitching coach role or a new role within the organization. Clearly, they weren’t able to reach a deal and Maddux headed west to Anaheim.

The Angels were the fifth stop of Maddux’s illustrious coaching career. He’s previously served as a pitching coach for the Brewers, Rangers (twice), Nationals and Cardinals. He logged at least five total seasons with Milwaukee, Texas and St. Louis and stayed two years in D.C.

Maddux, who’ll turn 65 later this month, enjoyed a 15-year career in the majors and pitched for nine different teams. He logged a 4.05 ERA in 861 2/3 big league innings, working both as a starter and reliever. Even with that lengthy career, he’s better 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 underwhelming groups of names. He spent two years as the Rockies’ bullpen coach and four as their lead pitching coach, logging six total seasons on the MLB staff from 2020-25. He’d been Colorado’s minor league pitching coordinator beforehand. As was the case in Denver, Scott wasn’t given a ton 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 lone major league experience as a pitcher came with the 1993 Angels, when he tossed 20 innings across 16 relief appearances.

Chiti, 67, has spent 20 years coaching in the big leagues and was a scout and minor league coach prior to that. He’s been a bullpen coach with the Rangers, Orioles and Mets in the past — to say nothing of a prior stint as the Angels’ bullpen coach, from 2021-22.

All three of the now-dismissed Angels coaches have extensive big league experience —  much of it under the most prolific managers of the current generation. Maddux has worked alongside Bruce Bochy, Dusty Baker and Ron Washington. Scott was Bud Black’s pitching coach for several years in Colorado. Chiti has coached on a pair of staffs run by Buck Showalter. They’re all respected dugout veterans who should be able to leverage that experience into new opportunities before long, should they wish to continue coaching. A quick exit of this nature never looks great, but directionless nature of the Angels organization and the frequent tumult/personnel turnover under owner Arte Moreno is well known throughout the industry.