New York Yankees

Will Sean Casey make a difference for Yankees? MLB hitting coaches more important than you think

Updated Jul. 14, 2023 4:32 p.m. ET

The New York Yankees are swinging away, so to speak. Stuck in an offensive rut for more several weeks without Aaron Judge, and really for the entire season aside from the reigning MVP, the club decided to make a rare in-season change this week and dismiss hitting coach Dillon Lawson before filling his vacancy with longtime former big leaguer Sean Casey.

Let the record show, I love this hire. Casey brings a wealth of knowledge to the role, having followed a 12-year playing career in which he batted .302 and made three All-Star teams with 14 years as an analyst at MLB Network.

Casey is one of the nicest humans in the world. It's not surprising to hear that he's already reached out to Judge, Josh Donaldson, Anthony Rizzo, Harrison Bader and Anthony Volpe.

Casey also disclosed that he felt there was tension among the Yankees' hitters. Well, how can there not be? They're hitting .231 as a team, which ranks 28th in Major League Baseball. Not having Judge for a lot of the year isn't an excuse to be at the bottom of the majors in hitting.

I think people undervalue hitting coaches a little bit at the professional level, perhaps concluding, "Oh, he’s got Aaron Judge. What in the hell is he going to do with his swing? What's he going to do with all these stars like Rizzo or Giancarlo Stanton? They know how to hit."

But it's not really about that. The problem you often face as a hitter when working alone is that you often feel like you're doing the same thing. One month, you feel like the best hitter in baseball and the next month, you can't barrel a ball to save your life. All the while, you feel like you're doing the same thing. But you're really not.

So, you always need somebody out there. I’ll forever remember talking to Miguel Cabrera about this. Miggy, at the time of this conversation, was already a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer, and he says, "I talk to my hitting coach all the time."

It's invaluable having someone studying your at-bats, even if it's just to tell you, "You were doing this, you’re now doing this, let’s go look at the video and work on it." That new set of eyeballs can really help you discover what you’re doing, and help you get back to where you once were.

I hope Casey can be a perfect fit in New York. A lot of what he’s done at MLB Network is examine guys' swings, specifically breaking them down through slow-motion demonstrations. I think it's going to be a seamless transition over to the Yankees.

Lucky for him, his first series is in Denver at Coors, where the balls fly all over the place.