According to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the Chicago Cubs are hiring Texas Rangers' hitting coach Anthony Iapoce away from the team to take the same role with the Cubs.
Iapoce, 45, has been the hitting coach for the Rangers for three years overseeing an offense that ranked in the top half in the American League each year he was there, though they did fall off a bit in 2018.
In 2018 the Rangers ranked seventh in the American League in runs scored, eighth in home runs, fourth in walks, and 12th in total bases. Some concerning stats are that the Rangers were dead last in hits and second to last in batting average and strikeouts, but those really don't matter if they were still producing runs.
The move brings back a familiar face to the Cubs as Iapoce spent three years with the organization as special assistant to the GM overseeing the Cubs hitting program. During that tenure he oversaw current Cubs mainstays like Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, and Willson Contreras among others.
Overall it seems to be a refreshing change from Chili Davis's contact at all costs approach, as Iapoce will likely bring the focus back to hitting the crap out of the ball and giving launch angles the attention it deserves.
There are a lot of question marks surrounding the offense heading into 2019, but a good hitting coach will be able to recognize potential problems and fix them before they cripple a players ability.
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