Cubs: David Ross says right things in intro presser

David Ross was formally introduced to the media as the 55th manager in Cubs history on Monday and he said a lot of the right things.

Despite doing their due diligence for a successor to Joe Maddon, it appeared that it was David Ross‘ job to lose as he was officially introduced as the organization’s 55th manager on Monday morning. While it was good to see “Grandpa Rossy” donned in all Cubs gear again, he made it very clear that some things will be a little different now as a leader of the team.

Ross was an integral piece in the Cubs’ 2016 World Series-winning team under Maddon but now he must do his best to fill his shoes. After beginning the press conference with thank you’s to the Ricketts family and the Cubs front office, Ross dove in headfirst addressing his lack of managerial experience stating that as a catcher, he was managing the game in a sense and letting it play out, which is exactly how he’ll approach his new position. But he also indicated that after retirement, he’s had an eye on the Cubs managerial gig during that three-year gap.

There’s no denying the numerous former catchers that have gone onto become great managers. As the field general, they inherently are natural-born leaders and have a thorough understanding of the game. I believe what most folks had concerns about was how he was going to hold his former teammates accountable. The Cubs under the last two years of Maddon had become lackadaisical in the field and on the basepaths, and Ross noted that the team looked like they were lacking that same chemistry that made them so formidable between 2015 and 2017.

It would appear that the only other major coaching change, outside of Ross, would be his hand-picked bench coach. If Joe Espada or Dave Martinez haven’t shown how valuable the position is, Ross will need to bring in the right guy to help drive home his focus on accountability. His introductory press conference should be considered a win but it will ultimately come down to how he cleans up the sloppy play, makes decisions on the fly, and success for the team in 2020 to consider the hire a win as well.

You can watch his full introductory press conference right here.