ST. LOUIS — Former Washington Nationals pitching coach Mike Maddux has been hired by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Maddux replaces Derek Lilliquist on manager Mike Mathney's staff. He joins the Cardinals after spending the last two seasons in Washington, where he coached 2016 Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.

His departure comes after the Nationals announced last week that manager Dusty Baker wouldn't return next season .

Maddux previously worked as a pitching coach with the Texas Rangers.

In addition to his arrival, the Cardinals on Thursday announced that Triple-A pitching coach Bryan Eversgerd has been promoted to bullpen coach.

The Cardinals finished third in the NL Central this season. They missed the playoffs for the second straight year, the first time the franchise missed the post-season in back-to-back years since 2007-08.

___

More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball