Rachel Folden doesn’t honor the ‘time-honored’ belief that women can’t coach. In fact, with the Chicago Cubs organization, she’s looking to change that

The Chicago Cubs’ Rachel Folden doesn’t adhere to you ‘can’t coach’ as a female. As a matter of fact,  Folden still owns 15 of the program’s single-season or career records 11 years after she graduated. She became the lead hitting lab tech and fourth coach in the Arizona Rookie League team. h/t  Anna Katherine Clemmons, ESPN

The new role makes her four of the females hired this offseason. Chicago Cubs director of player development Matt Dorey spoke to her commitment to the players. He’s ‘all-in’ on Folden.

Her first love was baseball. During her eighth grade year, her basketball coach, who also was her softball coach, asked her to switch. Needless to say, she assumed it was slow pitch and declined. The coach?

That was all the challenge she needed. She made the rec league, then made varsity squad at Diamond Bar High School in California. The result? A .531 average with all-state honors. And she didn’t get judged by her results with softball, not baseball–which was good.

She missed baseball. That was obvious. Side note, she caught Jennie Finch’s National Pro Fastpitch perfect game in 2009. 2009? Ugh.

When Justin Stone, head of Elite Baseball Training, came to Folden with starting a softball business with him, she had just one request. Work with baseball players. Once she started working with them, she ‘never missed a beat.’

Soon after on the way to Ann Arbor to run a camp for Michigan, she got the news she was anticipating. She got the job. And they weren’t looking to ‘fall behind.’ The Cubs minors were sure about that. They got a good one in Folden. One day, she might move up the list.

SOURCE: https://cubbiescrib.com/2020/03/26/chicago-cubs-minors-rachel-folden/

A 2nd Story: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/page/Going-March242020/cubs-rachel-folden-swinging-away-stigma-women-coach-baseball