Sean Casey, the New York Yankees interim hitting coach, has formally announced his departure on his latest podcast episode. Casey cited personal reasons, saying that his teenage daughters deserve his undivided attention. While he loved coaching in the Bronx, the timing is unfit for him to extend his stint in 2024.
Sean Casey came on board mid-season after the Yankees sacked Dillon Lawson during the All-Star break. While the offensive numbers remained stagnant under Casey’s tenure, the players, including captain Aaron Judge, spoke highly of him. However, a few sources from inside the organization brought new information to light, which made Casey’s backstory murkier.
Sean Casey’s Teaching Philosophies Differ From The One Adopted In Yankees Minor League System!
The Athletic spoke to a few anonymous sources of the New York Yankees organization seeking clarity on Sean Casey’s situation. The sources reportedly revealed startling details. Apparently, Casey’s teaching philosophies differ to that from those of Dillon Lawson. While Lawson was more focused on hitting the ball in the air and toward the pull side, Casey emphasized hitting in the right-center-field direction. Now, Lawson’s philosophy had been adopted by Yanks minor league systems through which the likes of Jasson Dominguez, Austin Wells, Everson Pereira, and Oswald Peraza emerged late season. Thus, the sources say that Casey’s philosophies did not work on the prospects who had been accustomed to Lawson’s approach.
Many in the Yankees organization blame Sean Casey for the prospects’ lackluster. Having said that, a source did tell the Athletic that had Casey committed, he would have been reinstated, but in a different role. The former baseman wouldn’t necessarily have bagged the hitting coach’s role in 2024. Casey, during his podcast, said that the Yanks did show significant interest in extending his stay as he had multiple conversations with skipper Aaron Boone. While a formal offer wasn’t made, the mood of the leadership seemed pretty clear to Casey. However, the former hitting coach’s family priorities will keep him away from the MLB world for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the Bombers would again have to look for a new hitting coach in 2024. They have scuffled six coaches since 2014 as their pursuit of a best fit remains unfinished.
What Sean Casey’s Numbest Say About His Brief Stint?
Besides teaching philosophies, Sean Casey’s numbers might have also worked against him. Apparently, the New York Yankees OPS dropped from .711 under Dillon Lawson’s tenure to .688 under Casey’s. Additionally, the team scored 3.85 runs per game during Casey’s stint as compared to 4.4 runs per game under Lawson’s tenure this year. In Casey’s defense, he wasn’t well-versed in the organization’s analytical structure.
Thus, it took him time to understand the numerical data before communicating the same to the hitters. Regardless, Sean Casey tried his best to use his baseball IQ to guide the struggling veterans as he deemed appropriate. And players like DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres displayed signs of life after Casey’s arrival. Thus, to say that Casey leaves without an impact wouldn’t be fair to the former hitting coach.
