Yankees hitting coaches could be on hot seat after Hal Steinbrenner calls out lineup
Hal Steinbrenner identified a Yankees problem in not just 2026 but 2025: a lineup that “twice now,” he said, “just hasn’t lived up to their end of the bargain.”And so after sparing general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone, the Yankees owner shifted his gaze toward the hitters and the group that leads them.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.
“I’m going to look at all the coaching, like I do every year, and yes, I’m definitely focused on the offense and on the hitting,” Steinbrenner said at the postmortem news conference Wednesday, when a potential target was placed on James Rowson and the staff under him.For each of the past three seasons, Rowson has been the club’s hitting coach and Casey Dykes has been assistant hitting coach.Before last season, the Yankees moved on from another assistant, Pat Roessler, and added Jake Hirst.Rowson, Dykes and Hirst led a 2026 attack that is difficult to assess.
In the regular season, the Yankees finished tied for ninth in runs scored largely on the back of the second-most home runs slugged.As has become expected, the Yankees were strong in drawing walks (fifth) and poor at collecting hits (a fifth-worst .235 batting average) while striking out too often (fourth most).
In the postseason, the Yankees lineup was incredible against the Red Sox and inept against the Rays.Of course, the above numbers were accumulated with just 383 total plate appearances from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who left massive voids that are impossible to replace and, thus, were not replaced.Nonetheless, the Yankees expected more from Jazz Chisholm Jr., whose regular-season OPS dropped 102 points from 2025.And from Trent Grisham (108-point plunge), Ryan McMahon (58) and Austin Wells (88).
Anthony Volpe and Jasson Domínguez stagnated.The only true step forward belonged to Ben Rice.
George Lombard Jr.and Spencer J...