Pitching coach ousted by Cubs

Bullpen problems lead to reported dismissal of Bosio.

The Cubs have fired longtime pitching coach Chris Bosio, an apparent casualty of the 2017 bullpen disaster, according to a report.

Bosio was the first pitching coach hired by club President Theo Epstein in 2011, and served under managers Dale Sveum, Rick Renteria and Joe Maddon.

The firing was reported by USA Today, but the Cubs did not return messages.

Bosio is the first coach on Maddon’s staff to be fired. Maddon lauded his coaches last week and said he expected them all to return, making the firing surprising.

“Rest assured Joe will have every coach back that he wants back,” Epstein said Friday, which suggests Maddon did not want Bosio back.

Bosio was instrumental in the rebuild and is credited with fixing Jake Arrieta’s career and accelerating the plan, while also building up midlevel free agents Paul Maholm, Scott Feldman and Jason Hammel to bring back value in trades. Feldman was the key player in the deal that brought in Arrieta, while Hammel and Jeff Samardzija brought in Addison Russell.

But bullpen issues and yearlong control issues may have been the impetus for the dismissal. Epstein pointed out Friday the Cubs were last in the majors in unintentional walk rate.

“That’s not acceptable,” Epstein said. “None of us feel good about that. We managed to have the third-lowest bullpen ERA in the National League, but we did it in a way we’re not comfortable with getting there.”

Epstein said the Cubs bullpen “peaked in September, the last three weeks of the season,” but “didn’t deliver in October.”

Epstein said it was “partly a player personnel thing,” but also added every reliever’s average walk rate went up. “It could be a fluke,” he said, but implied it was more than a coincidence. “Thirtieth this year, and 26th the year before? C’mon. We have to be a lot better than that.”

The team reassigned longtime pitching coach Dave Righetti from manager Bruce Bochy’s field staff to special assistant to the general manager, working under Bobby Evans.

The club announced Righetti’s role change to the front office Saturday, along with bullpen coach Mark Gardner moving into a special assignment job assisting in pitching evaluations. Assistant hitting coach Steve Decker is now a special assistant in baseball operations.

Evans said the club is interviewing for a pitching coach and hitting coach. He said it was too soon to say whether hitting coach Hensley Meulens would remain in his role but that at least one hitting coach position is open with Decker being reassigned.

“Ultimately a change for us in the clubhouse is really an opportunity just to put a new voice with our pitching staff and try to keep pushing to the heights that we aspire as an organization and a club,” Evans said. “Change can be for the good of both your staff and your players sometimes. This is certainly not going to eliminate Dave Righetti’s voice in this organization, in some ways it may even enlarge his voice, but it gives the players a daily perspective on perhaps new ways to approach the game or new ways to approach their work.”

Righetti’s 18 years as pitching coach marked the longest run in the position in San Francisco history. He was one of only five Giants coaches since 1900 with at least 10 years on the staff.