The Yankees named James Rowson their next hitting coach in an announcement shared to social media Monday.
The New York Yankees today announced that James Rowson has been named the club’s hitting coach. pic.twitter.com/XqRgr9kNQ5
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) November 13, 2023
Rowson will be taking over for Sean Casey, who vacated the position citing “family reasons” in October after spending just a half-season in the role. Casey, who had no prior coaching experience but had a long MLB career, was given the job after the Yankees fired hitting coach Dillon Lawson as the offense tanked in the first half last season.
GO DEEPER
Yankees hitting coach not returning in 2024
Team sources said Rowson, 47, formed a strong relationship with Aaron Judge when the star right fielder was coming up through the Yankees’ system and “J-Ro,” as players call him, was the team’s minor-league hitting coordinator.
Advertisement
Rowson, a Mount Vernon native, was highly respected in the organization for his work ethic, humility and an approach that sought to get the best out of players’ existing toolkits, one team source said. Another team source cited that Rowson has for years been against the “launch-angle” philosophy and instead favors a more holistic hitting coach.
It’s unclear what Rowson’s hire could mean for assistant major-league hitting coaches Brad Wilkerson and Casey Dykes, who are still under contract.
In their next hitting coach, the Yankees have been looking for someone who can set their organizational hitting philosophy, and in Rowson, they would have a candidate who could do exactly that considering his previous experience as the team’s minor-league hitting coordinator. Rowson has also worked with the Chicago Cubs in both the majors and the minors; the Minnesota Twins in the majors (including the 2019 team that hit an MLB-record 307 home runs) and the Miami Marlins as bench coach. He spent the 2022 season as the assistant hitting coach of the Detroit Tigers.
Rowson was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the ninth round of the 1994 draft out of Mount St. Michael High School in the Bronx. He played four minor-league seasons, never playing above High A. He finished with a career .193 batting average. He also played a season of independent baseball.
The Yankees are hoping to rebound from a season that general manager Brian Cashman labeled “a disaster” in which they went 82-80 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
GO DEEPER
What Yankees GM Brian Cashman says is 'BS' and what isn't about awful season
Required reading
(Top photo: Mark Brown / Getty Images)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57lGlraWxjZ3xzfJFsZmppX2aAcMXAp6KenaNitarA06KloGWTpK6ktIyjmKado2K%2FsMPSqKVo