The Cubs are making a change at hitting coach, as Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic report that Greg Brown will not be returning to that role next year, though he was offered a different role within the organization. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune adds that minor league hitting coordinator Dustin Kelly has been promoted to take Brown’s place and that Brown will leave the Cubs to pursue other opportunities.
The job has been remarkably volatile in recent years, with Mooney pointing out that the Cubs have employed 14 different hitting coaches since 2012. The Cubs have been rebuilding in recent years and have many young and developing hitters on the roster, meaning that they will be looking to help those youngsters maximize their potential while also providing some much-needed stability and continuity as they aim to be more competitive in the years to come.
Kelly has been in the organization for almost two years now and had spent the previous three years working with the minor leaguers of the Dodgers. In the past couple of seasons, Kelly has surely developed relationships with the young players that have been moving through the system. Whether those players are already in the majors or still working their way there, the Cubs are evidently impressed with the work he’s done and have quickly bumped him up to the show without any signs of having conducted a search of external candidates.
