Angels News: Halos Pitching Coach Poached by American League Squad
News broke on Thursday that Matt Wise, who has served as the Angels' pitching coach since 2021, is going to the Chicago White Sox to be the new bullpen coach.
Wise was the bullpen coach for the Halos in 2020 but stepped into and held the role of pitching coach in 2021 after Mickey Callaway was fired over sexual harassment allegations.
Wise produced a pitching staff in 2022 that was top-10 in ERA but took a big hit in 2023 ranking as the 23rd best team in MLB with a 4.63 team ERA.
The team also ranked 26th in WHIP.
When the Angels chose to not select Phil Nevin's contract option many of the coaches were granted the opportunity to pursue other jobs around the MLB.
While Wise was serviceable as a pitching coach he was in a similar boat to Nevin, both stepped into an interim role and eventually found enough success to have that tag drop off their title, but now, with the Angels looking for a fresh start, the team will look to hire a new pitching coach.
Wise was unable to generate the same kind of success in 2022 this season as the team dealt with injuries all year but when they were healthy, they did not perform.
Shohei Ohtani still had an amazing season in 2023 from both sides of the plate but his pitching took a relatively big hit.
Going up almost an entire run to his season ERA, Ohtani also walked more batters, and struck fewer batters out, all while pitching fewer innings due to his elbow injury.
Pitchers like Reid Detmers and Patrick Sandoval also saw their numbers in ERA, WHIP, and walks go up this year. Sandoval, after finishing 2021 and 2021 with a WAR of more than 2, had a 0.5 WAR for the 2023 season.
Changes are coming to the Angels organization, and Wise was just one of the first dominos.
