The Yankees have fired hitting coach Dillon Lawson, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
News: Yankees are planning to change hitting coach. Dillon Lawson expected to be relieved of that job.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 9, 2023
Lawson was fired following the Yankees’ 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. New York lost the three-game series and has woefully underperformed with Aaron Judge on the injured list. Joel Sherman, also of the New York Post, even noted this in a recent column.
Things must have gotten awful in the clubhouse for Brian Cashman to finally fire someone midseason. It’s like I’ve said before. The Yankees have two former MVPs and a two-time batting champion in their lineup independent of Aaron Judge. Players like Anthony Volpe and Harrison Bader also offer high upside, and the team also has Anthony Rizzo.
And yet, under Lawson’s watch, the Yankees failed to build off of last year’s first-place finish. They’ve slipped to fourth in the AL East, one game behind third-place Toronto and eight behind the Rays.
New York ranks 28th in batting average (.230), 18th in runs scored, 23rd in walks, and 22nd in OPS. Whatever philosophy Lawson was teaching just wasn’t landing with the players. The Yankees have since announced that they are focused on two candidates, but have not yet decided. Brian Cashman also put out a statement thanking Lawson for his year and a half on the job.
It all sounds as though Dillon Lawson was in over his head as a major league coach. He overachieved while Aaron Judge slugged 62 home runs in an MVP season. The rest of the Yankees were either injured, struggling, or both. He did a great job as a minor league hitting coordinator before getting promoted to the big league club, so maybe he’ll find a similar role on another team.
In the meantime, the Yankees can only hope that a change sparks the lineup while Judge continues rehabbing his toe.
