Angels Hire Former Rangers Pitching Coach to Same Position

Angels Hire Mike Maddux as New Pitching Coach

While it may be surprising that Maddux is only signed for one year, the newly appointed manager, Kurt Suzuki, is also only under contract for one year. The Rangers wanted to keep Maddux, with President of Baseball Operations Chris Young saying, “The Texas Rangers are forever grateful to Mike for his contributions here.”Maddux was a big reason why the Rangers won their first World Series in 2023, and guided the league-leading pitching staff in 2025 with a collective ERA of 3.41. Maddux has been a coach for over 20 years, but his biggest challenge may lie ahead with the Angels in 2026.

What is Maddux Working With?

The Angels’ 4.89 ERA was the second-worst in the majors. On top of this, they finished in the bottom five in strikeouts and dead last in walks. To say that Maddux has his work cut out for him is an understatement. Of course, not all is bad in Anaheim in this regard. Jose Soriano took another step forward in 2025, sporting a career-best 3.73 FIP. Yusei Kikuchi had another serviceable season, with an ERA and FIP that were right around league average.

Where the most significant differences could happen is in the young pitching core the Angels have. Reid Detmers is coming off a career year in the bullpen. From May 9th onwards, Detmers pitched to a 2.19 ERA and 2.79 FIP. The Angels have stated that Detmers will be pitching out of the rotation again in 2026, so Maddux’s help in helping Detmers maintain some of that performance moving forward is key.

The other two spots in the rotation are question marks at the moment. There’s a fun mix of guys that could take those spots, including Caden Dana, Sam Aldegheri, and Jack Kochanowicz. It’s also not impossible that the Angels would quickly promote Tyler Bremner, their first-round pick from 2025. The Angels have a history of calling up prospects early and rapidly. There will surely be a bevy of moves to the staff in the coming weeks, and it will be interesting to see them all.