The Los Angeles Angels season is fading fast. Once atop the NL West and riding a ten game winning streak, they have since fired Joe Maddon, been involved in a brawl that led to an interpreter being suspended and a reliever fracturing his elbow as he attempted to go over the railing to join the fray, and have plummeted to five games under .500. It is getting ugly.
One such sign came on Tuesday night. Reliever Elvis Peguero was not fooling anyone during his stint in the sixth inning, allowing four runs on two hits and two walks as he recorded just two outs. Part of the reason was that Peguero was tipping his pitches, something that Mike Trout could see from center field.
Mike Trout may be better option as Los Angeles Angels pitching coach
In fact, this was something that apparently only Trout could see on the Angels. Peguero said that he learned that he was tipping his pitches after watching that video of Trout in center and never had a conversation with pitching coach Matt Wise about it.
To make matters worse, the Angels’ coaching staff apparently was not aware of the fact that Peguero was tipping his pitches in real time. Bench coach Ray Montgomery did say that he thinks they were looking at Peguero tipping his pitches afterwards, but that was a lot of words to say they had no idea in the moment.
It is fair to ask what, exactly, the Angels’ coaching staff is doing. Wise needs to be aware of what his pitchers are doing, and if he is not, someone should make him aware of that. The frustration at the situation was evident on Trout’s face during that video as he appeared to be the only one to know what was going on.
Being in center gives a vastly different vantage point than being in the dugout. It is entirely possible that, from the angle the pitching coach was at, he could not see that Peguero was tipping pitches. However, Trout’s actions in center should have been pointed out to Wise and something should have been said in the moment, not after the game when they “were looking at after.”
Mike Trout was the only one to notice that Elvis Peguero was tipping his pitches on Tuesday. Maybe he should be the Los Angeles Angels pitching coach.