After last night's game, Marlins hitting coach, John Mallee was fired.
Hitting coach John Mallee was fired Wednesday moments after the Marlins' seventh consecutive loss, a move that angered many of the young players who worked with Mallee as they came up through the Marlins' system.
To replace Mallee, the Marlins went the way of nepotism and gave the job to Eduardo Perez.
Eduardo Perez, son of Marlins special assistant and Hall of Famer Tony Perez, will replace Mallee. Although Perez has no major- or minor-league coaching experience, he was working as a special assistant for the Indians and has coached in Puerto Rico, where he was named manager of the year in 2008.
This is really a stupid move. Eduardo is no hitting instructor, and his time in the Winter Leagues doesn't change that fact. This is not the time to make a move, to shake things up, it is time to circle to wagons and try and calmly workout the problems. But apparently, that ship has sailed.
Mallee knows more about the swings of the young Marlins players than probably anyone else on the planet, and the boys aren't happy.
"I don't think it's right. I don't think it's just," outfielder Logan Morrison said. "He's had me prepared more than anybody.
"It's definitely not his fault. We let him down. Everybody has their finger on the panic button. It's hard to relax and play baseball."
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Chris Coghlan called Mallee "the best coach I have ever had."
When the Marlins make a knee-jerk move, such as this. It normally has Loria's finger prints all over it. While nothing I have read puts this decision on Loria, I will bet he is behind it.
It is not Mallee's fault that Bonifacio is 1 for his last 19. Yeah, he got off to a hot start but he is simply regressing to his mean as a crappy hitter. Nor is it his fault that Stanton is 2 for his last 16 with 8 strikeouts. While Stanton is very young and the dynamic could change however at the present time he is a .250 hitter who strikes out a lot but has a lot of power. And no hitting coach can change these facts.
If the Marlins start hitting again with runners in scoring position, it will have nothing to do with the change in hitting coaches. The young Marlins are just too talented to keep going the way they are going.
Bottom line: firing Mallee was one asinine move.