Mike Maddux will be hired away from the Rangers to become the club’s new pitching coach to replace Barry Enright, the club confirmed on Friday. He’s the first known hire to join the staff, and the Angels will formally announce the staff once it’s complete.
Maddux had been with the Rangers for three seasons, including helping them to the organization’s first World Series title in ’23. The 64-year-old brings plenty of experience, as he’s been the pitching coach for the Brewers (2003-08), Rangers (2009-15, ’23-25), Nationals (2016-17) and Cardinals (2018-22).
He’s also had recent success with Texas, as their starters led the Majors with a 3.41 ERA in ’25 and their bullpen also had a 3.62 ERA that ranked as the fifth-best mark in the big leagues despite being composed of relievers signed to short deals.
Maddux, the older brother of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, also pitched in the Majors for nine teams over 15 seasons from 1986-2000. But he’s been a pitching coach for even longer with 23 years of experience.
He’ll face a difficult task of turning around a pitching staff that had a 4.89 ERA that ranked as the third-worst mark in the Majors. Their strikeout percentage to walk percentage was also 10.6%, which was the second-worst mark in baseball and only ahead of the Rockies.
Right-hander José Soriano and lefties Yusei Kikuchi and Reid Detmers are the only locks for the rotation, while veteran closer Kenley Jansen is a free agent after a strong year. They have plenty of young arms in the system and Maddux will be tasked with helping develop starters such as Caden Dana, George Klassen, Sam Aldegheri, Ryan Johnson, Chris Cortez and even Tyler Bremner, who was the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s Draft.
But given Maddux’s track record, it appears to be a strong hire for the Angels, especially signing him away from a divisional rival after three highly successful years in Texas under Bruce Bochy.
