When the Cubs hired Chili Davis as their new hitting coach this off-season, very few people understood how big of a signing that was. The 19-year MLB veteran knew a thing or two about hitting which was reflected by his .274/.360/.451 career slash line and also the fact that he has had great coaching success with the Oakland A’s and the Boston Red Sox. Davis has already brought a new vibe to the team in the first week of Spring Training and has jumped right into getting to work with the Cubs hitters who have all noticed one thing about their new hitting coach:
He likes to talk.
All of that talking has drawn the attention of one of the Cubs’ biggest question marks in 2018, Kyle Schwarber. Coming off a huge let down in 2017 which saw the slugger get demoted to AAA, Schwarber and Davis have seemed to formed a strong relationship early on in camp.
Before the two met, Schwarber already made it his mission to right the wrong of 2017 which began with a full body transformation to drop weight and improve his quickness. Cubs fans are hoping that both his body AND his hitting approach will show up on Opening Day looking very different.
And if it’s anyone that can help change that approach, it’s Chili Davis.
Davis shared a story with NBC Chicago’s Kelly Crull about the first thing that Kyle Schwarber told him when the two met during a pre-season meeting.
“”Schwarbs, he knows he’s a good player. His first statement to me is, ‘I don’t suck.'”
Schwarber’s stats last season would beg to differ with that quote but it also shows his desire to get back to the player that he was when he burst on the scene in 2015. Davis shared some interesting perspective as to why he thought Schwarber statistically had the worst season of his career last year. Davis believed it may have been a lack of focus.
“I think it may have been, he had a big World Series, hit some homers, and I think he tried to focus on being more of a home run type guy as opposed to being a good hitter.”
Davis has been impressed with Schwarber’s work ethic thus far and has also shared his own story with the Cubs slugger to show him that everyone has obstacles to overcome. Davis himself was sent to AAA during a similar point in his career and obviously was able to overcome that to have an impressive MLB career.
Although Schwarber is in only his second full season in the MLB, his potential is still through the roof and Chili Davis may be the guy to get Schwarber’s MLB career back on track.
