The Atlanta Braves named Roger McDowell as the team's pitching coach on Saturday, succeeding longtime coach Leo Mazzone. McDowell, 44, who had 159 saves in his 12-year career, spent the last two seasons as the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. He was pitching coach for Class-A South Georgia in 2002-03. He takes over for Mazzone, who took the open pitching coach position with the Baltimore Orioles on Oct. 21. In a statement released by the Braves, manager Bobby Cox called McDowell "one of the true up-and-coming teachers of the game." "[McDowell] was a great competitor as a player -- he started, he relieved and he even fought through arm problems, so he comes in a with great level of experience that our pitchers will learn from," Cox said.