After a season in which the offense collapsed in the second half, the Chicago Cubs fired hitting coach Chili Davis on Thursday, the club announced.
Under Davis’ watch, Cubs hitters saw a notable drop in production, especially in power, where they dropped from near the top of the league in home runs in 2017 to 11th in the NL this season.
Mentioned last week on @Bernstein_McK on @670TheScore that some material players told Theo that they felt their swings/approaches had been altered for the worse. 2/2
— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein) October 11, 2018
The team ranked first in OPS in the first half, posting a .771 mark that was in line with last season’s production, but that fell to .705 after the All-Star break, ranking 10th in the NL.
Of course their second half collapse would lead to some firings. There’s always someone to blame when a team loses two playoff games in a row at home.
Reminder of what Red Sox owner John Henry said after firing Chili Davis last season. Sounds awfully familiar #Cubs https://t.co/MyuedOYJhX
— crawly's cub kingdom (@crawlyscubs) October 12, 2018
The Cubs have not made any announcements about other coaches on the staff and haven’t indicated a timetable to replace Davis. I’m pretty sure with a healthy Kris Bryant, and signing someone like Bryce Harper, the Cubs will be just fine.
