The Cubs have hired hitting coach Anthony Iapoce away from the Rangers to fill the same role in their own organization, the team announced Monday. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had reported just before the formal announcement that Iapoce had already informed the Rangers of his decision to take the Cubs’ offer. Iapoce has been serving as the Rangers’ hitting coach since the end of the 2015 season, when Texas hired him away from the Cubs organization. Chicago dismissed 2018 hitting coach Chili Davis last week after just one year in the organization.
A former minor league outfielder who had an 11-year professional career, the Rangers were Iapoce’s first big league coaching assignment, although the 45-year-old had previously worked in the Cubs’ player development department, where he oversaw their minor league hitting program and served as a special assistant to GM Jed Hoyer and president of baseball ops Theo Epstein. He’s also previously worked as a minor league hitting coordinator with the Blue Jays.
With the Cubs, Iapoce will be tasked with helping to revitalize an offense that, as Epstein put it, “broke somewhere along the lines” in a late-season slump that extended into the National League Wild Card game. Given his past experience with the club, Iapoce will already have some degree of rapport with Epstein, Hoyer and manager Joe Maddon, all of whom were in the organization along with Iapoce back in 2015.
The Rangers, meanwhile, are already looking for a new manager and were already in search of a new assistant hitting coach after letting go of Justin Mashore. As Wilson notes, Texas GM Jon Daniels had already given the rest of his coaching staff freedom to pursue other opportunities after telling them that their 2019 fates would not be determined until the Rangers name a new manager. Texas will now be assured of further turnover in the dugout as the organization looks to piece together a developmentally-focused field staff to work with an expected youth movement.
The obvious fit wins out.
First order of business is getting him a hat that fits.
Cubs are a safe haven for players and coaches that don’t have the ability to wear their hats straight and wear hats that fits.
Good one!
We need an upvote system just for this comment
“Old man yells at cloud!”
Does he believe in the “launch angle”?
Yes. Yes he does.
Thank you for answering my honest question.
This part of the game (who accepts it, who doesn’t) is interesting to me.
it’s strange to me that people don’t believe in it. I won’t say it’s the definitive approach to hitting or that any other philosophy is wrong, but it’s not like launch angle is some fad. Ted Williams used to swear by it. so it’s been around a long time, and used by se very successful hitters.
A lot more people would like it if they actually understood it. In the old days they used to call it ‘barreling the ball’, hitting it off the ‘sweet spot’ of the bat to get it to launch at the most efficient angle to make it go as far as possible with the least physical effort
But yeah, call it something nerdy like ‘launch angle’ and actually quantify it, and suddenly it’s ruining the game…
He’s from the John Mallee school of hitting where you take Launch Angle 101, Advanced Implementation of Launch Angle, and Hitting, K-ing and Walking: Becoming The Three True Outcome Player
Eh. Strikeouts going up are inevitable when pitchers are throwing harder than ever.
Also inevitable when guys are more than willing to sacrifice contact for power. It’s definitely two-fold.
In the era of the shift, not all contact is good contact. Keeping the ball on the ground just isn’t as effective as it used to be.
Every struck ball off that has a launch angle. That’s a proven fact.
Launch angle is old news, high fastballs and low off speed cancels it out. Secret is out.
Now he needs a hat that fits
That’s old school and he wears it like he served in the military
Wrong. My CC would have had me for lunch if I wore my cover like that.
Your cc? What the heck is a cc ? Do you mean co? That’s pretty much how you wear a usmc 8 point cover
Company Commander.
Huzzah, glorious victory is upon us! Soon all other organizations will recognize the Chicago Cubs as the ultimate pinnacle of victorus baseball!
Must be some potent Cubbie Koolaid on tap.
So basically Theo will be the cubs hitting coach. This sounds like a yes man.
Interesting hire. A coach is only as successful as how much his players buy into what he is selling.
I don’t think Theo will be satisfied with just a new hitting coach.. Won’t be surprised to see a couple of new faces in that lineup.
Hopefully
Like signing Machado, Pollock and an elite closer? Trading Schwarber for and Happ for pitching prospects?
The only thing out of that that may happen is Happ getting traded unfortunately
Meh
Cubs are building a coaching Italian crime family over there…Maddon(ini) (that’s his real Italian last name), Borzello, Iapoce…..fuhheddaboudit! Used to have Bosio, too.
Hey, it’s Chicago, man……they bring you a knife, you bring a lasagna…..(being Italian-American, I can say that)…….
Haha. Can’t forget Jim Hickey. The atypical/uncommon Irish Consigliere — just like The Godfather. Lol.
Ha-ha! Cubs hitting coach Mike Borzello also happens to be the godson of another notable Italian with a few MLB “connections”…Joe Torre.
Of course, the Godfather in the dugout needs to do a better job in his lame duck season or Theo just might have to order a “hit” on the position come mid-summer. lol
I’m sure there are more than a few Cub fans who wouldn’t mind seeing Maddon replaced with yet another Italian-American with an even better resume of success in Joe Girardi assuming he doesn’t secure another managing job this offseason.
Hey, dem Jewish boys know who to call when they need a job done…..I mean, do you really think Mrs. Epstein knows how to make a Mastacholli?
Meanwhile, Joe G.’s going to the Angels, IMHO…..Moreno thinks he has a team on the cusp, and Joe can take them over the hump….he may be right about that…..Houston’s gonna have a HUGE payroll in a couple of years….the A’s are laudable, but never have enough coin to get to the top….the Mariners/Rangers are train wrecks waiting to happen…..
Not sure how good a cook Theo Epstein’s wife is but she is a gentile clothing designer who founded an exclusive company for women’s coats. Perhaps Theo should hire her as a consultant to solve the Cubs hat fitting issues. lol
That makes three hitting coaches in 3 seasons on the North Side. Hopefully Anthony Iapoce will have better success than the last two and help turn around an offense than has not lived up to its lofty expectations the past two years. Of course, better lineups from the manager with more set roles for many of the Cub hitters would also be a welcome change. The best remedy just might be to find a proper leadoff hitter this offseason and also sign one of the premier FA’s from among Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.
Mixed results in Texas.
Not sure how much he had to do with Odor this year – think listening to other players helped him as much – probably a 50-50 mix.
Wasn’t able to improve Gallo much, but Joey could just me a – you get what u got situation.
Regardless, new voices are needed in Texas.
Iapoce’s 2016, first season with Rangers’ AL Rank:
#3 BA (.262)
#4 Runs scored (765)
#2 with Runners in scoring position BA (.277)
Iapoce’s 2017 and 2018 seasons Rangers’ AL Rank:
#13 BA (.244) to #14 BA (.240)
#5 Runs scored (799) to #7 (737)
#10 with RISP (.252) to #12 (.243)
star-telegram.com/sports/mlb/texas-rangers/article…
Iapoce had Odor for three season as the Rangers hitting coach. He didn’t stink as much this season as he had in 2017 but still smelled best in 2016 with his 3.4 oWAR. Odor might benefit most from a base running coach in 2019. His 12 CS in 24 attempts led the AL.
Good riddance. We need a better hitting coach and a really good pitching coach with the new manager anyway.
Never heard of him. Why not get someone who can actually hit. Or was actually in the major leagues. 11 years in the minors and you get a job as a hitting coach.
Joe Maddon played in the minors and never made it above single-A, and led 2 different teams to the World Series as a manager. Braves coach Brian Snitker never made it to the major leagues, and he just managed a team that won the NL East division.
Maybe you don’t need to be a hot shot MLB player to be a coach/manager
Because the guys who COULD hit (yes, there are a few exceptions) made their money and really aren’t all that interested in spending 6 months a year with a bunch of sweaty jocks. Getting good coaches is a real problem these days, a function of the money that’s made as a player.
You either have to really like the game, or have no chance of getting a job as a Wally World greeter. Coaches/Managers on the Milb level are probably split 50-50 in that regard.
There are not many elite hitters turned hitting coaches. It’s almost always the opposite, It’s like saying you have to be (insert famous author) to teach a writing class. Being good at something does not make you good at teaching it. And you don’t have to be good at something to teach someone about it
Barry Bonds
No one wants a cheater for a coach thats why he was fired after one year. Ozuna got traded and took all his supplies.
Barry Bonds would make somebody a great hitting coach by that logic…
Anthony WHO?
I hope they
re-sign Murphy
pick up options on Hamels and Strop
sign Zach Britton
trade Montgomery / Happ / Caratini / Bote / Russel for a patient lefty hitter
Find it absolutely amusing that your name is greatd…….and you hope they re-sign Murphy. He is absolutely terrible in the field and there is ZERO chance the Cubs will sign him. In his season closing press conference Theo said that they used Murphy more than they expected to down the stretch due to the Russell suspension. He certainly was worth a one month rental when he fell into their laps, but there has to be a reason that over a dozen other teams didn’t even put a claim for him. A) he was probably too expensive for some, but B) he’s just a brutally bad baseball player outside the batter’s box—-and he really has to hit about .350 to level off all his other deficiencies.
He’s not much of a defender I agree but
what if he has some of 2017 still left in him?
23 homeruns / .322 ba / .384 obp
Isn’t this the type of hitter the cubs need?
With all due respect, I think you’re making his defensive play out to be much worse than it was.
Granted, the guy is far from Addison Russell, but he was at least serviceable in the field. He made all the routine plays, and even surprised me on a few of the balls that he did get to.
The Cubs’ main problem is bad/untimely hitting, unprofessional at-bats, not taking enough walks, and flat out not putting the bat on the ball.
If you’re gonna make an out, at least make the other team have to make a play on it. Ya know?
Murphy is one of (if not) the most professional hitters in baseball. Has a hawk eye, works deep counts, puts the bat on the ball, and hits for high average.
I mean, what more could you want? If I’m Theo, I’m not even hesitating to sign him for 2 or 3 years.
I am not making his defense to be worse than it is—he’s brutal. I would certainly love to have a hitter of Murphy’s ability, but there is not a chance that the way the Cubs value defense—especially in the middle—and potentially losing Russell— that they will sacrifice it at such an important position.
I guess it’s possible, but I would be stunned if he is in the Cubs plans. I do value your opinion, but disagree on this one.
If you listened to Theo’s press conference he openly said that he had interest and so would American League teams. Maybe I’m reading too much between the lines, but that sounds like DH material to me.
What’s up with the Cubs haters living in their moms basements going out their way to comment on cubs article?
Cant say I’ll just desperately miss Iapoce. Team’s hitting overal has gotten worse since he got here. Some young guys haven’t developed at all under him.
I’d like Texas to gauge Beltre’s interest in being a hitting coach. Young as well.