Cubs hire 8 new minor-league coaches
On Friday, the Cubs today announced eight new hires to the organization's minor league coaching staffs.
The newcomers include former Chicago Bandits softball player Rachel Folden as the lead hitting lab tech and fourth coach for Mesa of the Rookie League. Folden, 32, created Folden Fastpitch in 2010, providing baseball and softball instruction based on biomechanics, science, technology and data.
The other hires are as follows:
• Casey Jacobson is the organization's new coordinator of pitching development. Jacobson, 29, is an instructor at Driveline Baseball in Kent, Wash., and in 2019 was an assistant coach at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, S.D., following five seasons as the pitching coach for Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.
• Doug Willey has been named a pitching coach for Rookie League Mesa. Willey, 26, most recently was a graduate assistant bullpen coach at the University of Arkansas where he worked under pitching coaches Wes Johnson and Matt Hobbs.
• Travis Fitta has been named the fourth coach, hitting and baseball development for Single-A Eugene. Fitta, 29, has most recently worked as Director of Hitting Development at Ohio University, utilizing data and tech paired with traditional player development techniques to create individualized hitting programs.
• Folden has been named the lead hitting lab tech and fourth coach for Rookie League Mesa. Folden, 32, created Folden Fastpitch in 2010, providing baseball and softball instruction based on biomechanics, science, technology and data, and has also served as a hitting consultant for Elite Baseball Training. She played five seasons (2008-12) in the National Pro Fastpitch league, including time with the Chicago Bandits.
• Steven Pollakov has been named the Dominican hitting analytics coordinator. Pollakov, 27, most recently served as a hitting apprentice in the Houston Astros farm system in 2019, integrating technology and biometrics into hitting programs.
• Dan Puente has been named the hitting coach for Single-A South Bend. Puente, 37, has been a hitting and catching instructor at Elite Baseball Training since 2012, a technology-infused baseball and softball instructional company created by the Cubs Director of Hitting Justin Stone.
• Will Remillard has been named the fourth coach, hitting and baseball development for Double-A Tennessee. The 27-year-old Remillard was a development coach with Tennessee last season following a playing career that saw him reach Triple-A Iowa in 2018.
• Will Skett has been named the fourth coach, hitting and baseball development for Single-A Myrtle Beach. Skett, 45, started So Cal Hitting Zone in 2012, a baseball training and batting development center that utilizes a data driven approach to improve player performance.