It didn’t take Mike Butcher long to land on his feet. The former Angels pitching coach, whose contract was not renewed by the team earlier this month, was named pitching coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Butcher, 50, just completed his ninth season with the Angels, who had a 3.94 earned-run average this season, sixth best in the American League. The Angels, picked to win the AL West, finished one game out of the playoffs.
The former big league pitcher decided after lengthy meetings with new Angels General Manager Billy Eppler and team President John Carpino that he wouldn’t return, saying, “We mutually agreed this might be a good time for a change.