The LA Angels hire Astros Doug White as new pitching coach

The LA Angels have made their first move of the Brad Ausmus era was to hire a new pitching coach.  Doug White, who was the Astros bullpen coach last season.  Charles Nagy, who has been the Angels pitching coach for the past three years did not have his contract renewed.

The LA Angels made a move Tuesday that may signify that other moves are on the horizon.  The Angels decided to replace Charles Nagy as their pitching coach for the past three years with Houston Astros bullpen coach Doug White.

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White never played professional baseball of any kind, however he is the founder of the “Passion for Pitching” Academy that is located in Southern California.  His idea was to use Zhealth, a program that enhances movement patterns in athletes, to help enhance their pitching performance.  This would seem to be right up the alley of Angels general manager Billy Eppler who likes to use a lot of new methods and analytics with players.  I’m assuming new manager Brad Ausmus is onboard with this or White would have not been chosen.

White has plenty of experience in the minors spending five years in the Cardinals organization for five years as a pitching coach in the minors for the Cardinals from 2008 to 2012.  After that he moved on to the Astros organization serving as a roving pitching instructor for two seasons before advancing to be the minor league pitching coordinator.

Last season White was given the opportunity to be the Astros bullpen coach which he thrived in that role helping the Astros bullpen to have a 3.03 bullpen ERA with a 1.06 WHIP which led the majors and opposing hitters had a MLB low .212 bating average.

This is the first new hire of the Ausmus era which could mean more moves are on the horizon.  Will the Angels keep anyone from the previous coaching staff remains to be seen.  Ausmus’ coaching should start to take shape over the next month so they can begin working on improving on last season’s 80-82 record.

We will see what happens.