Just days after it was announced that Bill Mueller would not be returning as the hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs in 2015, the team named his replacement. John Mallee will now take over his duties, the team announced on Thursday.
He is a Chicago native who has been the hitting coach for the Houston Astros for the past two seasons. Before that, Mallee was the minor league hitting coordinator for the Miami Marlins for nine seasons. He actually interviewed to be the Cubs’ minor league hitting coordinator two seasons ago, before taking the major league job with the Astros.
Mallee’s experience working with younger players likely played a huge role in his hiring, as the Cubs are loaded with young and exciting offensive talent. Mallee has been credited with helping Jose Altuve, Jason Castro and J.D. Martinez tremendously. It will certainly be interesting to see what he can do with Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and the rest of the Cubs’ young stars.
Mallee not only has strong ties to the city of Chicago, he has past experience working with current members of the Cubs’ staff. When he was with the Marlins, Mallee worked with current Cubs’ bench coach Brandon Hyde and front office member Anthony Iapoce.
The Cubs also announced two other changes to the coaching staff on Thursday. First base coach Eric Hinske will now be the assistant hitting coach, while former Cubs’ outfielder Doug Dascenzo joins the staff as the new first base/outfield coach. Dascenzo joins the Cubs after spending 2014 as the third base coach of the Atlanta Braves.