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Cubs fire hitting coach Chili Davis after offensive downturn

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The Chicago Cubs have fired hitting coach Chili Davis following a disappointing finish to their 2018 season.

Davis was hired last year after spending three seasons in the same role with the Boston Red Sox. His stint on Joe Maddon's staff lasted just one season after the Cubs' star-studded offense struggled in 2018.

Although their lineup featured a bevy of All-Star caliber hitters including Anthony Rizzo, former MVP Kris Bryant, and 2018 MVP candidate Javier Baez, the Cubs still struggled at the plate, failing to score more than one run in 39 regular-season games.

Their stagnated bats came back to haunt them when it mattered most, as Chicago ranked among the worst offensive teams in the league during the second half of 2018.

R HR wRC+ wOBA
1st Half 476 100 107 .332
2nd Half 285 67 89 .305

A sudden inability to score ended up costing the Cubs their division lead, and they lost both the NL Central tie-breaker game and the NL wild-card game on consecutive days at Wrigley Field while scoring just two runs over the two games.

"Something happened to our offense in the second half," Cubs president Theo Epstein said, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. "We stopped walking, we stopped hitting home runs, we stopped hitting the ball in the air, and we stopped being productive. Not being able to get to two runs that many times in the second half is really unacceptable."

An announcement about the rest of the Cubs' 2018 coaching staff isn't expected to come until later in the offseason, according to Muskat.

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