CHICAGO -- The disappointed Chicago Cubs wasted little time making a change, dropping hitting coach Von Joshua after Sunday's season finale while offering him a similar spot at Triple-A.
Joshua had been promoted from Triple-A Iowa on June 14 when Gerald Perry was fired as hitting coach after 2½ seasons.
The Cubs were batting .246 the day Perry was fired and finished the season at .255. Chicago lost to Arizona 5-2 Sunday to finish 83-78 after two straight appearances in the playoffs.
"He will be given the opportunity to go back to his other job in Des Moines," general manager Jim Hendry said.
"I told him that it wasn't anything that I was upset with him, he didn't do anything wrong. But when you come up from the system in the middle of the year, if things don't make significant difference in improvement, then obviously in my opinion we need to try something different."
Hendry said the Cubs had a lot of players struggling offensively this season and they didn't make a lot of progress after Joshua replaced Perry.
Hendry said he told Voshua when he was promoted that he would have job until the end of the season and that if things didn't work out, he could go back to Triple-A.
Joshua was not available for comment. An outfielder who spent 10 years in the majors, Joshua served as the Chicago White Sox's hitting coach from 1998 to 2001
Hendry said all other Cubs coaches would be retained and that a new hitting coach would be hired before spring training.