The New York Yankees’ new hitting coach knows a thing or two about batting in the major leagues.
Sean Casey was a career .302 hitter over a 12-year MLB career for five different teams. Then he went to work for MLB Network in 2009 and watched a ton of baseball in his role as a studio analyst.
What he’s seen out of the Bronx Bombers so far this has troubled him.
“I’m seeing a lot of five-, six-, seven-, maybe eight-pitch innings,” Casey told reporters Wednesday in an introductory Zoom call. “For me on the outside looking in and I’m like, ‘That’s very unlike the Yankees. That’s not the Yankee way. That’s not the way these guys go about it.'”
Casey’s former Cincinnati Reds teammate, New York manager Aaron Boone, hired him Monday to replace hitting coach Dillon Lawson, whom the Yankees fired the day before.
At the conclusion of the first half of the regular season, the Yankees had the second-fewest hits in the major leagues (690, beating out only Oakland) and were tied with Detroit for 28th in batting average (.231).
Reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge is on the injured list for the second time, leaving a gap in the offense that has not been filled on a consistent basis.
Casey said he’d already been in contact with Judge, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, third baseman Josh Donaldson, outfielder Harrison Bader and rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe — who only broke out of an earlier slump after former minor league teammate Austin Wells suggested he adjust his batting stance.
The Yankees went 49-42 over the first half, but that left them in fourth place in the best division in baseball, the American League East, where three teams have 50 wins and all five are above .500.
“Expectations in New York, expectations for myself are high,” Casey said. “I would expect myself to come in and make an impact. I think the biggest thing is that for all of us, you just got to make sure that you get locked into what your job is, and I think sometimes that if you start to worry what others’ expectations are for you, you don’t do them as good as you can in the trenches.”
Casey will join the team in person Thursday at Yankee Stadium before the team flies west to kick off the second half of the season with road series against the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels.
–Field Level Media