The Los Angeles Angels' staffing shakeup continued Tuesday with the firings of pitching coach Doug White and bench coach Josh Paul.
Under White, the Angels took a major step forward in terms of analytics. They began using radar devices and high-speed cameras to analyze pitchers' techniques. The technology helped some to improve the shapes of their pitches.
But the Angels' pitching staff as a whole put together one of the worst campaigns in franchise history. They posted a collective 5.12 ERA _ the third-highest by any Angels team _ and allowed the third-most home runs (267) in baseball. That was an all-time franchise high, obliterating the record of 228 set by the 2000 Angels.
Pitchers struck out 1,404 batters, which was just about average in MLB this season. The Angels of 2018 also struck out an MLB-average number of hitters.
White, a pitching coach in some capacity since 2003, had spent his four previous seasons working in the Houston Astros' system. He was their bullpen coach in 2018. Astros relievers had a major league-best 3.03 earned-run average, improving by more than a run from their 2017 ERA under White's direction.
In Anaheim, White was charged with a pitching staff of aging veterans, inexperienced minor leaguers and a few pitchers seemingly on the cusp of becoming all-stars. Injuries had wrecked the staff by the end of May, and the death of Tyler Skaggs on July 1 furthered the collapse.
