Report: Cubs fire hitting coach Chili Davis after just one season
The Chicago Cubs have found their scapegoat. After failing to advance past the National League wild-card game, the Cubs have fired hitting coach Chili Davis, according to Bruce Levine of WSCR.
Davis was fired after just one year on the job. Under his guidance, the team hit .258/.333/.410. The Cubs’ 100 wRC+, an advanced stat that measures offensive performance, tied for 11th in the league.
That wasn’t a significant drop from 2017, when the team hit .255/.338/.437. That was enough to rank the Cubs as the ninth-best offense in baseball. The 2017 team had a 101 wRC+.
While the cumulative numbers weren’t all that jarring, the team’s offensive splits tell another story. After starting out the year strong, the Cubs offense completely collapsed in the second half. The team hit just .249/.316/.389 following the All-Star break. They posted an 89 wRC+ over that period, which ranked 24th.
The Cubs carried those struggles with them into Game 163 and the wild-card game. The team mustered just one run against the Milwaukee Brewers during their loss in Game 163. And scored just one run against the Colorado Rockies in the wild-card game.
Davis did have some big wins during the year, though. Javier Baez blossomed into an MVP candidate and Ben Zobrist managed to bounce back after a tough 2017. Willson Contreras and Kris Bryant, meanwhile, saw significant dips in production, though Bryant battled through a shoulder injury for a large portion of the year.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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