Yankees News: Sean Casey Hired as Hitting Coach After Dillon Lawson Firing

Three-time All-Star Sean Casey will replace Dillon Lawson as the New York Yankees' hitting coach, the team announced Monday.

"Anyone who knows Sean knows he is a very well-respected former baseball player with a big personality full of positive energy," GM Brian Cashman said in a statement. "We feel his abilities to connect with people with his experience will serve him well in his new role as our head hitting coach."

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal first reported the news. The New York Post's Jon Heyman, Casey has agreed to serve as the team's hitting coach through the end of the 2023 season.

Heyman and the New York Post's Joel Sherman initially reported that Casey was a candidate for the job.

New York moved on from Lawson following Sunday's 7-4 defeat to the Chicago Cubs, its final game before the All-Star break.

Casey spent 12 seasons in MLB as a player and retired as a career .302 hitter with a .367 on-base percentage. The 49-year-old will have an existing rapport with Yankees manager Aaron Boone as well since they spent five-plus years together with the Cincinnati Reds.

Still, Casey's hiring comes as a bit of a shock because he hasn't worked in an official coaching role before. He became an MLB Network analyst shortly after retiring in 2008.

Casey discussed his credentials to reporters:

"I've been in professional baseball for almost 30 years, and my passion is hitting and the mental side of the game. Working at MLB Network for the last 15 years, I've been able to keep my finger on the pulse of the game, speaking with current big leaguers, watching a tremendous amount of video, breaking down film as part of my job and trying to figure out what hitters are doing physically and mentally."

Lawson wasn't a decorated former player and brought a more analytical approach to his role. Hiring somebody with a much different profile makes plenty of sense, but fans might have been expecting somebody with more coaching experience than Casey has.

He inherits a Yankees offense that ranks 28th in batting average (.231) and 26th in on-base percentage (.300). Per FanGraphs, the Bronx Bombers are also 24th in wOBA (.308), down from fourth (.327) in 2022.

Maybe it's as simple as getting back to basics and counting on some regression in the second half.

Giancarlo Stanton will surely improve with his .426 slugging percentage on pace to be a career low. DJ LeMahieu is striking out at a higher clip (23.3 percent) than he ever has before. Something might click for Oswaldo Cabrera and Anthony Volpe as they grow more and more accustomed to major league pitching.

Should the offense continue to sputter, Casey may not be a long-term solution as the hitting coach, and it will only raise further concerns about the general state of the coaching staff.