Rangers draw on old glory as Maddux returns to staff
The Texas Rangers hired Mike Maddux as their new pitching coach Wednesday, and added former Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore as a senior advisor in their baseball operations department.
Maddux is returning to Texas to be on new manager Bruce Bochy's staff. Maddux was first the pitching coach for the Rangers from 2009-15, a span in which they made their only two World Series appearances. He spent the past five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, and has been part of 11 playoffs teams over his past 15 seasons as a pitching coach.
Moore spent the past 16 years with the Royals, where he was named GM in May 2006 and also served as president of baseball operations before getting fired in September. The Royals had three consecutive 100-loss seasons before Moore's arrival. They won backto-back American League pennants in 2014 and 2015, beating the New York Mets for the World Series title after the second one.
Maddux was the second-longest tenured pitching coach in club history when he left the Rangers after the 2015 season and spent the following two years with Washington.
Texas had four consecutive seasons with team ERAs under 4.00 from 2010-13. Before his arrival, they hadn't had a team ERA under 4.00 since 1990, and haven't had one since Maddux left.
Phils’ Harper has surgery on elbow
Phillies slugger Bryce Harper will miss the start of the 2023 season after he had reconstructive right elbow surgery on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Harper is expected to return to Philadelphia's lineup as the designated hitter by the All-Star break. He could be back in right field by the end of the season, according to the team.
The 30-year-old Harper suffered a small ulnar collateral ligament tear in his elbow in April. He last played right field at Miami on April 16. He had a platelet-rich plasma injection in May and shifted to designated hitter.
Odds and ends
Astros ace Justin Verlander and St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols won baseball's Comeback Player of the Year awards.
Verlander, the American League recipient, returned from Tommy John surgery to post the lowest ERA in the majors and was a unanimous winner of his third Cy Young Award — becoming the first player to earn the prize after not pitching in the previous season.
Pujols, honored in the National League, came back to St. Louis for his farewell season and posted his biggest numbers in years at age 42. The three-time MVP compiled an .895 OPS for the NL Central champions and became the fourth major leaguer to reach 700 career home runs. …
The Los Angeles Angels acquired powerhitting outfielder Hunter Renfroe in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers for three young pitchers. Milwaukee received righthanders Janson Junk and Elvis Peguero and minor league lefthander Adam Seminaris. Renfroe batted .255 with 29 home runs, 72 RBIs and an .807 OPS in 125 games last season, his first with the Brewers. He led major league right fielders with 11 assists.