The Los Angeles Angels are in the midst of a managerial search, which is expected to come to an end shortly now that the offseason has officially begun.
After declining Phil Nevin’s option in 2024, they have some shoes to fill in terms of a skipper that can maintain a direction, even as the front office continues to weigh free agency. The elephant in the room is the future of Shohei Ohtani, and how that’ll shift their ultimate direction.
This week, the Chicago White Sox announced they have hired away the Angels hitting coach from this past season, creating another vacancy in their coaching ranks.
The Chicago White Sox are hiring Marcus Thames as hitting coach, according to sources familiar with the situation.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) November 7, 2023
A huge point for Thames when joining the Angels was an approach to be both aggressive early in counts, while lowering the amount of swing and miss. To his second point, the Angels were unable to lower their strikeout rate, going from an American League leading 25.7% to 24.8% (4th in AL) this past season.
He also spoke about the use of analytics and the desire for the offense to improve against fastballs. Thames was able to instill that methodology, as they ranked 7th in the AL against the heater.
Their major issues came against sliders, to which they amassed a -28.7 run value against, third worst in the AL.
Whomever the Angels front office hires as their manager, will have the ability to pick their own hitting coach to guide this relatively young offensive group.
Angels let go of minor league pitching coordinator Buddy Carlyle
It appears the Angels have already found a replacement for Carlyle, as longtime coach Dom Chiti has reportedly rejoined the organization as the new Minor League pitching coordinator.
Chiti, whose coaching career dates back to the 1980s, originally joined the Angels in 2020 as a special assistant to general manager Perry Minasian. He eventually took over as the interim bullpen coach the following year and remained in that role for 2022.
Chiti spent the 2023 season with the New York Mets as their full-time bullpen coach. Now back with the Angels, Chiti will be responsible for developing the team’s young arms.
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