Chicago Cubs hitting coach Greg Brown will not return for 2023, with minor-league hitting coordinator Dustin Kelly replacing him.
Less than one year after hiring Greg Brown, the Cubs are not retaining the 42-year-old. They offered Brown a position elsewhere in the organization, but he has chosen to seek other opportunities.Dustin Kelly, the organization’s minor-league hitting coordinator the last two years, will be promoted to replace Brown. The move cannot become official until after the World Series because Major League Baseball prohibits teams from making announcements during its marquee event.
“We’ve talked about it year after year, we never have enough offensively,” team President Jed Hoyer said last month. “Despite the fact we played really well, we didn’t score enough. At times we were banged up, but that exposed a lack of depth. So that’s going to be a clear area of focus is making sure that our run-scoring takes a step forward because this year toward the end as we were playing better, we were lagging behind a bit.
Kelly, 39, is a fast riser in the coaching ranks. His work in the minors has been part of building a hitting infrastructure within a system that has seen offensive breakthroughs and the maturation of young hitting talent over the last two seasons.