Chicago Cubs Tommy Hottovy and Anthony Iapoce to take modern approach

Among the topics discussed at the Chicago Cubs’ introductory Spring Training Press conference on Tuesday afternoon were the philosophies of new pitching and hitting coaches Tommy Hottovy and Anthony Iapoce.

The Chicago Cubs parted ways with former hitting coach Chili Davis over his failure to connect with young stars like Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, while Hickey left the team for “personal reasons” despite lowering the staff ERA from 3.95 in 2017 to 3.65 in 2018.

Realistically, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer simply needed a new direction for the team after a cataclysmic collapse to end the 2018 season. Much of this had to do with finding the right personnel to resonate with the younger personalities on the roster.

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Familiar faces with prior experience in the organization suddenly appeared to be the most appealing candidates to the front office.

Tommy Hottovy had previously served as the team’s run prevention coordinator in the scouting department, while Anthony Iapoce’s old position as a minor league hitting instructor for guys like Bryant and Javier Baez as well as his affiliation with former hitting coach John Mallee seemed to make him a natural successor to Davis.

But familiarity aside, it is clear that Hottovy and Iapoce were hired due to their analytical backgrounds, something that Hoyer elaborated on at Tuesday’s press conference.

Hoyer explained in particular how Hottovy has been working with pitchers on assessing their spin rates and using data to help inform some of their mechanics.

He additionally spoke on the willingness of players in the modern game to interact with the data in taking a more holistic approach to baseball.

This would seem especially pertinent for hitters, as exit velocity and launch angle will once again become critical areas of focus under Iapoce.

Maddon himself spoke on his desire to become more involved in the hitting dynamics of his team, and in spending the offseason reading “Managing Millennials for Dummies,” he too appears committed to taking a more contemporary approach to the game and the importance of data.

This is certainly a departure from the more classical approaches of Davis and Hickey, which focused more on raw mechanics rather than numbers informing performance.

Of course, baseball games are still won and lost on the diamond. But it has become clear that Epstein, Maddon and the rest of the front office are steadfast in their belief that a prepared, analytical understanding of their team may have the largest impact on the Cubs in 2019.