Back to the future: Anthony Iapoce replaces Chili Davis as Cubs’ hitting coach

Anthony Iapoce’s hiring to replace Chili Davis as the Cubs’ hitting coach might look like a straightforward return to the launch angle approach of previous coach John Mallee.

But Iapoce is quick to make one thing clear as he becomes the Cubs’ sixth hitting coach since Theo Epstein took over the front office: He’s nobody’s disciple.

“I don’t really see myself aligned with anybody, as far as any other coach would be,” said Iapoce, who overlapped with Mallee for a season in the Cubs’ organization before leaving for the Texas Rangers hitting coach job he filled the last three seasons.

“You’re aligned with yourself, and how you think,” he said. “And how you relate to players is No. 1. The first priority is to learn from players, and talk it out, and then them learning from you.”

The hiring is nonetheless a back-to-the-future move for the Cubs, who are bringing back the coach who served as a special assistant to the general manager overseeing their minor-league hitting program from 2013-15 before taking the Rangers’ big-league job.

Mallee, who coached Iapoce in the minors, was initially offered that job before the 2013 season but after accepting the Astros’ big-league job instead, Mallee recommended Iapoce.

Iapoce, 45, became available this time around because of the uncertainty surrounding the Rangers’ managerial vacancy. Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde has interviewed for that job (and also has interviewed for the Angels vacancy).

Whether the hiring is a full pendulum swing back toward Mallee, and the success he had with teams that made three deep playoff runs, the Cubs in Monday’s announcement stressed the success the Rangers had hitting home runs during Iapoce’s years in Texas.

The Rangers ranked fifth in the American League in runs and fourth in homers during Iapoce’s three seasons in Texas. In 2017, the Rangers became the first team in major-league history to have nine players hit at least 17 homers each.

Iapoce said he doesn’t take the job with preconceived notions of what went wrong, or right, with the Cubs’ young hitters this season – many of whom he knew when they started in the organization.

He stressed being open to how much has likely changed in the three years since he left the Cubs.

“My job right now is to be part of the staff and making the connections,” said Iapoce, who plans to spend much of the winter traveling to spend face time with his hitters. “And then kind of pick up steam into spring training.”

Iopace oversaw Kris Bryant’s hitting development from his first minor-league assignment in 2013 to his big-league debut in 2015 as well as the early development of Kyle Schwarber and Ian Happ, and late minor-league development of Albert Almora Jr. and Javy Baez.

“It’s an exciting team, exciting players,” he said. “Even in ’15 when I was there and watching them go through it as a staff member and then in ’16 watching those players to through it, you still forget how young they were. And they’re still young today.

“They’re still evolving, which is a great thing.”

The Cubs fired Davis last week after determining his all-fields, less-power-emphasis approach was not the right fit for a young core of hitters after just one year on the job.

The Cubs’ power numbers this season dipped significantly even as the rest of the production remained similar to 2017 — with injuries to former MVP Bryant an obviously large factor.

“Our offense broke, somewhere along the lines,” Epstein said in addressing the media the day after the Cubs were eliminated in the National League wild-card game two weeks ago.

“Something happened to our offense in the second half,” added Epstein, whose team scored one or no runs in 20 of their final 66 games (including the wild-card game). “We stopped walking, stopped hitting home runs, stopped hitting the ball in the air.”

Iapoce operates under a similar philosophy to Mallee (2015-2017), stressing an approach designed to create more balls in in the air.

Before his minor-league tour with the Cubs, Iapoce spent three seasons as a roving hitting instructor for the Blue Jays and two seasons before that as a Class A hitting coach in the Marlins system.

He spent 11 seasons in the minors as a player, reaching the AAA level.

The Cubs are expected to announce their entire 2019 coaching staff after Hyde’s status is resolved.