Cubs Hire Away Rangers Hitting Coach
CHICAGO (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The Chicago Cubs have hired Anthony Iapoce as its major league hitting coach, replacing the fired Chili Davis.
Iapoce was the major league hitting coach for the Texas Rangers the last three seasons. He spent the previous three years in the Cubs organization and the team said he is familiar with many members of the big league club.
During Iapoce's three years in Texas, the Rangers ranked fifth in the American League in runs and fourth in home runs. The 2017 Rangers were the first MLB team with nine players to reach at least 17 homers in the same season.
However the Rangers lost 95 games and finished in last place in the AL West division.
On October 2, Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels said assistant hitting coach Justin Mashore would not return in 2019.
Chicago won 95 games in a franchise-record fourth straight playoff season, but its offense was inconsistent.
The Cubs finished fourth in the National League in scoring but managed one run or zero in 39 regular-season games.
They scored just two runs over 22 innings in losing the NL Central tiebreaker game against Milwaukee and the NL wild-card game to Colorado.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)