According to a report from Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, the Cubs are bringing former hitting coach John Mallee back to the staff for next season. Dustin Kelly is already entrenched as the current hitting coach and there could be as many as three openings pending Andy Green‘s future, but Mallee is not necessarily expected to replace anyone in particular.
Mallee served as the Cubs’ hitting coach from 2015-17 under Joe Maddon, helping to guide the team through an unprecedented period of success. His reward was being fired following a third consecutive trip to the NLCS, a decision that followed a long-running organizational trend of short tenures for hitting instructors.