ANAHEIM, Calif. - Tim Leveque has had a busy few days. On Monday, he was in Knoxville, Tenn. with the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the Los Angeles Angels' Double-A affiliate, preparing for a game against the Knoxville Smokies.
Then the Trash Pandas' pitching coach got a call that the Angels just fired their pitching coach Mike Maddux, along with two other pitching coaches, and Leveque was being brought up to be the interim pitching coach at the Major League level.
"My overall philosophy is really just knowing what pitchers' strengths are and being able to individualize like you can and try to get guys to understand who they are," Leveque said.
Paige Creason - The Sporting Tribune
Los Angeles Angels right-handed pitcher Walbert Ureña (57) pitches during the MLB game against the Colorado Rockies Tuesday June 3rd, 2026 at Angel's Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.
Leveque Before the Angels
Leveque has a wealth of baseball experience behind him. Before joining the Trash Pandas' staff, Leveque had worked in the St. Louis Cardinals' organization for nearly 20 years in a variety of roles as a Minor League pitching coach and coordinator, during which time he became familiar with Angels interim general manager John Mozeliak, who was the Cardinals general manager and president of baseball operations for nearly as long as Leveque was with the team.
Mozeliak was behind the decision to part ways with Maddux and the other two coaches, primarily because the previous staff had an unwillingness to utilize data and information technology that the Angels already had on hand. Leveque, it seems, won't have any problems making use of technology though.
Jordan Carroll - The Sporting Tribune
Los Angeles Angels pitcher Reid Detmers (61) pitches during the game against the Chicago White Sox at Angel Stadium on May 5, 2026, in Anaheim, California.
"My philosophy has been to just try to use as much information as I can because ultimately... it's about making the right decision," Leveque said. "What my instinct tells me, what information the organization has, how I know the guys and just trying to use everything that we have to try and make the best decisions possible."
Meeting Players New and Old
Leveque does have a tall task ahead of him and not much time to work at it. With 42 games left in the season, the Angels have the seventh-worst combined ERA in MLB while leading the league in walks with 512. To get started at fixing these issues, Leveque first needs to get to know the staff he's working with and start understanding their respective strengths and weaknesses.
Getting to know the staff will be easier for Leveque given that he's worked with a lot of them already. The Angels have a young staff both in the rotation and in the bullpen and players like Blake Weiman, Luke Murphy and Ryan Johnson all have worked with Leveque in Rocket City at some point.
Jon Bryan - The Sporting Tribune
The Los Angeles Angels Luke Murphy #72 pitches during an MLB game against The Milwaukee Brewers on July 31st, 2026 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California
One pitcher he did need to get to know is Yusei Kikuchi, who is still working his way back from left shoulder inflammation and has a rehab start scheduled for Saturday with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Kikuchi threw a bullpen at Angel Stadium on Wednesday and had a chance to connect with Leveque and interim bullpen coach Michael Wuertz to prepare ahead of his eventual return.
"I feel they're very data-oriented," Kikuchi said through a translator. "I had a really good discussion about what I need to obtain and I feel like I can really work with them in the... future."