Angels hitting coach Jeremy Reed won’t return next season

Hitting coach Jeremy Reed and assistant hitting coach John Mallee will not be returning to the Angels in 2023, the team said Wednesday. Mike Gallego will also not be returning as the third base coach, said a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The moves mark the first changes of Phil Nevin’s coaching staff for next season. More coaching staff changes will likely occur, as they typically do for any new manager. The Angels did not provide further updates on other coaches.

Nevin was hired as the Angels third base coach last winter, getting promoted to interim manager in June. The Angels named him their full time manager on a one-year deal for the 2023 season on the last day of the Angels regular season Oct. 5.

Nevin and general manager Perry Minasian said they would spend this offseason deciding who would be on the Angels coaching staff for 2023. Any changes would not be unwarranted.

The Angels finished their season at 73-89 and third in the American League West.

Their offense accumulated the most strikeouts (1,539) in baseball. It also tied for 22nd in on-base plus slugging rate (.687); 24th in batting average (.233); 25th in total runs scored (623); 25th in walks (449); 22nd in hits (1,265); and 25th in RBIs (600).

In 2022, the Angels offense, or lack of, in part was what led to their demise despite a hot start to the season. Injuries coupled with an overall lack of depth led to inconsistencies, particularly along the middle and bottom of the order. After the 27-17 start, in which the Angels offense ranked top-four in baseball in runs, home runs, OPS, the Angels hit a 14-game losing streak, then further dropped down a hole they could not climb out of.

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“I think if you look back to April, early May, our decision-making at the plate was significantly better,” Minasian said in July.

In four seasons, Reed oversaw an Angels offense that saw its best: collective batting average in 2021, when it ranked 10th (.245); and scored the ninth-most runs (295) while having the ninth-best on-base percentage (.332) during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Reed was promoted to the Angels’ major-league staff in 2018, as former manager Brad Ausmus’ hitting coach, replacing Eric Hinske. Previously he spent two years as the organization’s minor-league hitting coordinator. Reed had remained the hitting coach through two other managers, Joe Maddon and Nevin.

Gallego was also brought on during the Ausmus tenure, serving as the infield and third base coach when first promoted in 2018. He was previously the Angels’ director of baseball development.

Mallee was brought to the Angels in the offseason before the 2020 season, a new hire for Maddon’s coaching staff. Mallee was part of Maddon’s coaching staff when the two were with the Chicago Cubs. Mallee was the Philadelphia Phillies’ hitting coach before coming to Anaheim.