Iowa Cubs hitting coach John Mallee happy to be back in Cubs organization
As Iowa Cubs hitting coach John Mallee wandered around Principal Park several days before the season started, he came across an unexpected tool to reward his players.
Mallee, who had to wear a hard hat around the clubhouse while it was undergoing upgrades, figured it was also the perfect symbol for his team of hitters this season.
“I said, ‘You know, we’re going to use the hard hat because we do damage — we’re hard workers, we’ve got our lunch pails and our hard hat and we’re going to work every day,’” Mallee said.
Mallee kept the white hard hat and brought it with him to Iowa dugout this season. It’s become a motivational tool and a prize of sorts, awarded to any hitter on the team whenever they belt a home run.
“There’s so much stress in between the lines because the guys are trying to perform and take care of their families,” Mallee said. “They want to get to the big leagues. So, to alleviate some of that stress, we try to joke around a lot and try to make an environment so that when we hit a home run, we celebrate that.”
That’s just one of the many ways that Mallee has tried to have an impact on Iowa hitters this season. The 53-year-old, who is in his first season in Iowa, is a familiar face in the organization. He spent three seasons as big-league hitting coach with the Cubs and was even a part of Chicago’s 2016 World Series title coaching staff.
Mallee was let go following the 2017 season and then worked as a hitting coach for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2018-2019 and the Los Angeles Angels from 2020-22. When the Angels moved on from him last season, Mallee went looking for new work. Mallee, who also worked in the big leagues with the Florida Marlins and Houston Astros, said he had a couple of opportunities elsewhere. But he heard about a unique one when Cubs hitting director Justin Stone reached out to him.
Stone told him that the Cubs were looking for a Triple-A hitting coach. The job was intriguing to Mallee despite having just been fired by the Cubs a few years earlier. The Illinois native grew up a Cubs fan and had friends in the organization including Stone along with Cubs minor league hitting coordinators Rachel Folden and Steven Pollakov. He figured working with them would help him as well.
“I was looking for somewhere where I could learn and develop,” Mallee said.
Mallee figured the Cubs were the perfect spot to do that, even if it meant a return to the minor leagues, a level he hadn’t worked at since 2010 when he was the minor league hitting coordinator for the Florida Marlins. But it’s worked out well for everyone. But Mallee embraced it all.
He spent time in Chicago’s big-league camp during spring training figuring out the hitting philosophies of Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly. Mallee wanted to make sure he was teaching the same things Kelly was so that the transition would be easier for hitters when they get to the big leagues. He’s also learned how to measure data during the game, something he says the Cubs didn’t have during his first stint, and implement immediate changes.
“The story is told by the data but how to fix and how to feel it and how to make adjustments is where the coaching experience that I have has helped me apply some of the data that I’ve gained from in-game information to help me develop players,” Mallee said.
Mallee has also worked with hitters on game planning and finding strengths and weaknesses in opposing pitchers. He puts an emphasis on finding spots to hit so they can drive multiple pitches. The approach has worked. Mallee has helped make Iowa one of the most dangerous lineups in all of Minor League Baseball. The Cubs entered Friday’s game ranking first in the International League in slugging percentage (.517), OPS (.909), batting average (.291) and runs scored (167).
“I’ve never seen a guy that’s as locked in as he is,” said Iowa manager Marty Pevey. “From a developmental standpoint, he is all in. The guy gets to the ballpark at 9 a.m., and starts his homework. The hitters, physically and mentally, are as prepared as any group that I’ve ever seen.”
The return to the Cubs has been rewarding for Mallee. He’s had fun, especially rewarding his hitters with the hard hat, which has stickers all over it that Mallee marks with each long ball this season. With how things are going, there will be a lot more added.
“Coming here has been exciting because of the talent and the level of talent of the position players,” Mallee said. “From top to bottom, everyone here has a chance to be a big leaguer. Some have a chance to be impactful big leaguers. Hopefully they all do but it’s really exciting to have an opportunity and be blessed to work with such a talented group.”
Here's what Mallee had to say about three of Iowa's biggest hitters this season:
Christopher Morel
“It’s approach oriented. He went up to the big leagues and he had a lot of success and the league adjusted to him and he really didn’t adjust back. So, just trying to figure out what those adjustments he needed to make from an approach standpoint and just hammering in that approach with him.
“It’s going very well. His walk rate is up. He’s still striking out a little bit but his walk rate is up. He’s not chasing as much which is great because that’s what’s going to take him to be consistent in the big leagues. He’s going to show flashes but anybody who continues to chase out of the zone and pitchers with really good command in the big leagues, they’ll get exposed. So, trying to learn how to have a proper game plan and approach and what lanes to stay out of, where to look at certain type of pitches to try to keep him out of that are where made stuff happens.”
Brennen Davis
“His timing has improved. He’s such a hard worker and he tries so hard. He’s so talented. He was having trouble with the fastball at the time and his performance was down. If he had never hit a fastball, then you would say, ‘OK, he can’t do it.’ But he’s had a history of hitting the fastball and then he had the injury last year and missed most of the season. He worked really hard in the offseason to get himself back physically to be able to compete on a daily basis and do the work that’s required physically. And I think it’s just a timing thing and then once he gets his timing, which he’s starting to get now, and then he gets the timing, then the confidence rises and then, now you see the look on his face where he’s real close to being where he needs to be.”
Matt Mervis
“He needs at-bats and his approach too, his walk rate is up and his chase rate is down. So that’s very important. Matt is such a good hitter that he gets runners in scoring position like any human he wants to drive them in. And he has to learn to be patient there because he’s got guys around him that can do the job as well. We call that passing the baton. So, he’s just shrinking the zone and staying within himself. And then letting the next guy get it and then he’ll take his walk and let the next guy do it. where before he just tarried to expand because he wants to put everything in play because he can hit a lot of these guys it’s just saying in the zone.”
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: John Mallee won a World Series with the Cubs. He's back coaching in the minors.
