LAS VEGAS -- One of the Cubs' goals is to have the hitting side of their operations make the same developmental strides displayed in recent years by the pitching infrastructure. That has led to another change at the top of the hitting group's leadership.

On Tuesday at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas, the Cubs officially announced the promotion of Dustin Kelly, the team's Minor League hitting coordinator for the past two years, as the new lead hitting coach on manager David Ross' Major League staff. Kelly's MLB group will include Johnny Washington, Jim Adduci and Juan Cabreja each serving as assistant hitting coaches.

"Dustin, first and foremost, he's a leader," Cubs vice president of player development Jared Banner said. "[He's been] a really integral part of our player development department overall. He was promoted to field coordinator this offseason before joining our Major League staff.

"He's had a tremendous impact on our hitting department, our position players and a lot of the success we've had, and he's also helping develop a lot of younger coaches along the way. So, he's a special person, a really special leader and I'm not surprised he's gotten himself this opportunity."

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After one season as the MLB hitting coach for the Cubs, Greg Brown has been offered a different role in the organization, but there has not been a final decision on that front. Prior to Chicago, he spent two years as the Minor League hitting coordinator for the Rays.

"We think the world of Greg Brown," Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday night at the GM Meetings. "He's a tremendous hitting coach. With the current Major League guys and the young guys coming up, it wasn't the right fit in the Majors. We certainly hope he stays in the organization and can have a big impact on the franchise.

"Going with a guy in Dustin Kelly that we think the world of and has relationships with all those young hitters, that was really important. We felt like Dustin was the right fit. Dustin and Johnny Washington will make a great pairing."

The Cubs named the rest of Ross' coaching staff on Tuesday, with 11 people from the 2022 club returning. Kelly will be the third lead hitting coach under Ross and will become the eighth hitting coach for Chicago in a 12-year span (2012-23). Including the assistant hitting coach job, the Cubs have cycled through 17 coaches on the offensive side in that same time period.

During his end-of-season press conference in October, Hoyer made it clear that the club fell short of expectations offensively down the stretch.

"Our pitching and run prevention really stepped forward," Hoyer said. "That was really gratifying to see. You never have enough [pitching]. I think we've talked about it year after year. We never have enough. Offensively, despite the fact that we played really well, we also didn't score enough.

"At times, we were kind of banged up, but that exposed a lack of depth. So, I think that's going to be a clear area of focus, is making sure that our run scoring kind of takes a step forward. Because this year, towards the end, even as we were playing well, we were lagging behind a bit."

In the second half, the Cubs ranked fifth in the National League with 39 wins and posted the NL's third-lowest team ERA (3.30), trailing only the Dodgers and Braves. But during that same time, Chicago hit .231/.301/.382, ranking 10th in the NL in wRC+ (93) and OPS (.683), while posting inflated strikeout and whiff rates.

Kelly will join the Cubs following a year in which the organization's farm system made some noticeable gains across the board. Prior to joining Chicago's coaching ranks, Kelly spent three seasons as a hitting coach in the Dodgers' Minor League system.