Cubs Give Hitting Coach the Boot

The Chicago Cubs made a midseason switch from Gerald Perry to Von Joshua as hitting coach, in the hopes it would spark the beleaguered offseason.

It did not. And now Von Joshua is out.

“Basically I told him it wasn’t anything that I was upset with him,” general manager Jim Hendry said. “He didn’t do anything wrong. But when you come up from the system in the middle of the year, if things don’t make significant differences in improvement, then obviously in my opinion we need to do something different.”

The Cubs could fill the opening with Double-A manager Ryne Sandberg, or minor league hitting coordinator Dave Keller, though Hendry declined to name names.

“When Von came up we were scuffling,” he said. “And we never really made a lot of progress in some of the same areas we were deficient in the first half. And I told him that when he came here- that it was only for the end of the year.” Hardball.

I love that last quote from Hendry. I mean, I told him it was only for the end of the year, but while he’s on the way out, I just want to note that the hitters still sucked at the things he was brought in to correct. You know, in case anyone was interested in hiring him.

Von Joshua, whose name has always bothered me because it does not seem like a first name and a last name, is expected to return to AAA Iowa as the team’s hitting instructor.