Angels' latest coaching hire will completely overhaul pitching strategy and prep

A non-pitcher will revamp the Angels' pitching. On the surface, it's a wild move that seems like a continuation of Perry Minasian's burgeoning desire to become "Braves West." However, the more one reads about Sal Fasano, the more one becomes completely bought-in to what he preaches.

Fasano's title is almost a farce, but he is technically the assistant pitching coach. It's seemingly the same role that Minasian offered him in 2017 with Atlanta, but with a different designation. The Athletic's Sam Blum described the "jack-of-all-trades" nature of Fasano's role:

"He’ll work closely with head of game planning Alex Cultice. He’ll work with catchers, in the context of how they work with pitchers. And he’ll also be front-facing with the pitchers themselves. Fasano said he expects to communicate with catchers and pitchers in-game, and work directly with the team’s analytics department."

Blum

The Braves' pitching staff was phenomenal last season--without Spencer Strider, mind you. They ranked first in the entire league in the following categories: fWAR, FIP, xFIP, K/9, K-BB%, total Ks, ERA, ERA-, SIERA (Skill Interactive ERA), WPA (win probability added), and allowed the lowest exit velocity and hard hit%. Chris Sale just won a Cy Young in his first season with Atlanta. The Angels are really benefitting from the Braves' puzzling decision to not bring Fasano back. He clearly had a hand in that staff's massive successes.

How exactly will Sal Fasano help the Angels?

Angels fans--if you want to get fired up, watch this video. How can you not believe that the Angels will steal more strikes after hearing him speak about Travis d'Arnaud? Pitch framing is Fasano and d'Arnaud's modus operandi, and the pitching staff and Logan O'Hoppe will be direct beneficiaries.

Both Enright and Fasano talk about molding the analytical and old-school approaches into a specific game plan for their pitchers. Fasano will make game plans, but adjust based on what the catchers, pitchers, and he see in-game. The revamped game planning will theoretically get the most out of the non-Ben Joyce pitchers who do not throw 100mph. Kyle Hendricks made an entire career out of pitching to his anomalous strengths and to hitters' weaknesses, and "The Professor" will also provide key insights as to how to maximize the Angels' pitchers' strengths using pitch location and game-calling. With Fasano clarifying to certain pitchers who they are and how they have to approach a game, paired with d'Arnaud's framing and leadership skills, plus a fully operational and unlocked O'Hoppe...the run prevention could make major strides next year.

Improving the philosophy, identity, and nitty-gritty of the pitching staff is paramount for an Angels' turnaround. Sale discussed how a member of the Braves' front office tweaked his changeup grip and biomechanics in order to maximize its seam-shifted wake (which essentially means it kills spin and gets more depth). The Angels' new pitching labs will be crucial in this regard, which is not something that Fasano can necessarily spearhead. Enright and the R&D department could modernize their pitchers' arsenals given the new technological strides the Angels are making. The holistic approach is never fully holistic, teams need to utilize data and technology in order to weaponize their pitchers.

At the end of the day, Fasano is a baseball lifer who should be able to simply communicate and disseminate information to the players. If that is all he does, that is good enough...but he will do that and so much more for his former ballclub.

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