Former Marshall Softball Player Joins New York Mets as Hitting Coach
Former Marshall softball slugger and the first female coach in Chicago Cubs history, Rachel Folden, announced that she’s blazing a new trail for women in baseball.
In an Instagram post, Folden disclosed that she’s joining the New York Mets organization as a hitting coach at Double-A Binghamton. She spent the last Major League Baseball season as a hitting coach for the Iowa Cubs, Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate.
“My time with the Cubs has come to an end,” Folden wrote on her Instagram post. “6 years with an organization is a blessing, and I will forever be grateful for my time in Chicago. I have made lifelong friends and connections that will outlast my time on the field, and that’s what it’s all about. Thank you for taking a chance on a female hitting instructor from nowhere and giving her a uniform.
“It’s time for a new chapter, this time with the New York Mets. I’m beyond excited to be a part of what has already been building, and keep the momentum going all the way to a World Series. Let’s go!”
Folden made history for the Cubs in November of 2019 when she was hired as a hitting lab technician. She went on to become a hitting coach in the Arizona Complex League (2021-22), then served as a Minor League hitting coordinator (2023), before becoming the hitting coach at Double-A Tennessee (2024) and concluding her tenure at Triple-A in Iowa.
Folden will replace Nate Irving, who had been Binghamton’s hitting coach in 2025, and will follow in the footsteps of other female trailblazers within the organization, like former Tennessee softball player Gretchen Aucoin and former SUNY softball player Bree Nasti.
Prior to her baseball endeavors, Folden ruled the softball field at Marshall. The catcher became the second player in school history in 2007 to be named an NFCA All-Mideast Region First Team honoree for a third straight season. She finished her junior season as the C-USA leader with a career-best .408 batting average, led the league in slugging percentage at .758, on-base percentage at .560, runs scored at 47, and walks at 51.
She currently sits in second place in Marshall program history for 41 home runs.
Folden went on to play professionally for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league, leading the team to a championship and earning Rookie of the Year honors. She debuted with a .311 batting average, 11 home runs, and 32 RBIs.
While in the NPF, she served as an assistant coach at Valparaiso University in Ind, and helped guide the Crusaders to a school-record 35 victories in 2010. With her guidance, the pitching staff lowered its team ERA, and the team grabbed single-season school records for saves, strikeouts, slugging percentage, hits, runs scored, RBIs, total bases, doubles, and home runs.
When asked by Jordan Bastian of the Cubs earlier this year if she had any aspirations to become a big league coach, she responded that player development has been fulfilling.
“I’m where my feet are,” Folden said. “I know the possibility’s out there, but I’m not in a hurry. I really enjoy player development. If the opportunity comes, it comes.”
For now, she’ll join the Rumble Ponies, who are coming off their fourth Eastern League championship in franchise history and their first since 2014.
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Nicole Reitz graduated from Indiana University Indianapolis with a degree in sports journalism in 2022 and has been writing about softball and baseball since 2018 .Her work has been published in various publications like Softball America, the Indianapolis Star, and SoxOn35th.
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