By Jordan Long
The Chicago Cubs hired their new hitting coach. They let hitting coach Chili Davis go after failing to beat the Colorado Rockies in the Wild Card game. It was Davis’ 1st and only season in Chicago.
The Cubs were the 4th best team in terms of batting average this year, hitting .258. What cost Davis his job was the Cubs offense after the All-Star break with an average of .249. That is part of the reason they didn’t win the National League Central Division.
The Cubs struggled this season with runners in scoring position. It seemed most of the time when the Cubs had a runner on 2nd or 3rd base, they couldn’t score him. They would either strike out, fly out, or ground into a double play. They were 20th in all of baseball with runners in scoring position with a batting average of .247.
The Cubs felt their failure this season was the offense, Davis’ job. He didn’t seem to help the offense and when they had batting practice, who knows what they worked on. It didn’t translate into results on the field. A year on the job is harsh but Davis didn’t prepare the Cubs for the games. They decided to move on from Davis.
The Cubs were quick to replace him hiring Anthony Iapoce. Iapoce was the hitting coach for the Texas Rangers the previous 3 seasons. According to Chicago.suntimes.com Iapoce said, “You’re aligned with yourself, and how you think. And how you relate to players is No. 1. The first priority is to learn from players, and talk it out, and then them learning from you.”
The Rangers were one of the worst teams in terms of batting average last season with a batting average of .240, 23rd in all of Major League Baseball. The Rangers didn’t hit that well with runners in scoring position with an average of .243, ranking 24th.
The Cubs are hoping the hire of Iapoce will jump start the offense next year. Iapoce has the baseball knowledge to help them improve their stats. The Cubs know in order to advance in the postseason, the offense has to be there and score runs.
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