Yankees hire Sean Casey as hitting coach

Yankees hire Sean Casey as hitting coach

One day after it was reported the New York Yankees dismissed hitting coach Dillon Lawson, they found their guy! The Yankees have hired former Major Leaguer and current MLB Network broadcaster Sean Casey as their hitting coach, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported Monday.

The club has yet to make the hiring official.

Sean Casey will indeed be the Yankees’ next hitting coach, sources tell @TheAthletic.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 10, 2023

Lawson’s dismissal was unordinary for Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who had never fired a coach midseason since taking over in 1998 before Sunday. Lawson was promoted to hitting coach ahead of the 2022 season.

Casey, 49, does not have any coaching experience at the minor or major league level–similar to current Yankees manager Aaron Boone prior to his hiring in 2018. Casey, a three-time All-Star, was a career .302/.367/.447 (.814 OPS) in 12 major league seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Guardians (formerly known as Cleveland Indians), Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox.

Casey is well-liked with plenty of passion and affection for the game, though who knows much insight he’ll have on the coaching side of things?

Entering the All-Star break, New York ranks No. 19 across MLB in runs scored (400) and hard-hit rate (31.7%), No. 21 in OPS (.710) and wRC+ (96) and No. 26 in on-base percentage (.300).

To make matters worse, their team-wide approach has been flawed all season. While they will attack pitches early in counts, per Statcast, they have the ninth-lowest swing rate on pitches in the zone when they’re behind in the count with the fourth-lowest swing rate on fastballs in the zone when ahead in the count.

Over the previous four seasons, the Yankees led baseball in walk rate (10.0%) and got on-base at the fourth-highest clip; this year, they’re No. 20 in walk rate. When you’re not getting on base nor being aggressive when you need to be in certain counts, you’re backing yourself into a corner–and that’s exactly what they have done, especially without reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who has missed the last month with a toe injury.

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The Yankees are currently 49-42 and are eight games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East and one game back of the Houston Astros, who are tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the second and third Wild Card spots. Can Casey re-ignite this offense? Let us know in the comments below!

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