The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve hired James Rowson as their new hitting coach. He’d reportedly been offered the position last week.
Rowson, 47, is no stranger to the Yankees organization, having spent nine years as a minor league hitting coach and minor league hitting coordinator. He’s spent the past nine seasons on Major League coaching staffs, most recently working with the 2023 Tigers as their assistant hitting coach. Rowson has also served as a bench coach and “offensive coordinator” with the Marlins and the hitting coach with the Twins.
The 2024 season will be Rowson’s tenth on a Major League staff. Perhaps most notable on his resume was his third and final season in Minnesota, when he was the hitting coach for a Twins roster that set a Major League record with 307 home runs on the season. The year of the Twins’ “Bomba Squad,” as they were nicknamed, coincided with MLB’s juiced ball season, but it was nonetheless an impressive season for the lineup and one for which Rowson drew plenty of credit. The Marlins offered him a promotion and hired him away from Minnesota that offseason.
Rowson will replace outgoing hitting coach Sean Casey, who took the role midseason after the Yankees fired Dillon Lawson. Casey seemed to make an immediate impression on Yankees hitters, but after spending half a year on the job, he came to the conclusion that the time away from his family over the course of a full season would simply be too much. Casey said on October 25 that he planned to return home to spend more time with his two young daughters, stating that time for him simply isn’t “perfect” at this juncture. He did leave the door open for a possible return to coaching “in the next few years.”
With this hire, the Yankees are trotting out their fourth hitting coach in as many seasons and surely hoping that Rowson will have some staying power. The Yanks opted not to retain Marcus Thames following the 2021 season, and they’ve since quickly moved on from Lawson and seen Casey cite family reasons for his own departure. There’s always the possibility, of course, that another club will pry Rowson away with for a more prominent role. In addition to his three seasons as a bench coach in Miami, he’s also previously interviewed for the Twins’ managerial vacancy that went to Rocco Baldelli and was reportedly one of three finalists in the Red Sox’ most recent managerial search. That only speaks to how well regarded Rowson is throughout the industry, however.
Poor guy, nice to have him back though.
A couple positives: 1) He’s not a slave to launch-angle hitting, believing in better situational hitting. 2) Judge is a fan. Beyond that, the best way he can succeed is by getting better hitters.
Let’s hope he doesn’t do those silly beach ball, hitting activities like the other hitting coach
I am cautiously optimistic. I know that the Yankees hitting coach position is like a running joke of guys who don’t stick around and can’t effectively apply their approach to actually fix or help the team, but man, Yankees hitting truly can’t get worse than its been the past few years and this guy has a good reputation.
I’m pulling for Rawson like a healthy Greg Bird producing perennial 40 home run seasons they had hoped for
Judge seems to be a big fan of Rowson so hopefully they’ve finally found the right guy. It also gives credence to the report that Judge has increased pull within the Yankees organization
Yeah this has Judge’s influence all over it and considering that Judge is the most well rounded hitter on the Yankees, that’s a potentially great thing for the team as a whole.
I think the Yankees could solve their hitting coach problem by hiring players that can actually hit
Bingo! I was about to say the same thing. Yankees won 1998 WS with Bernie Williams leading team with 23 HRs. Stop signing all or nothing hitters trying to hit HRs. Ill take 3-4 guys hitting .280+ with only 10-15 HRs all day long!
Nobody complains when the ball is flying out.
This isn’t 1998 lol.
We just saw the Rangers win the WS by mashing home runs and the Phillies come within one win of a pennant by doing the same. Home runs are the optima method of scoring these days. It’s time to let go of that dinosaur way of thinking
Well, maybe it speaks to how well regarded he is. But the cynical side of me hopes he’s not just a minority interview.
Doesn’t matter if Barry Bonds was the hitting coach. They’re one dimensional hitters who make hundreds if millions. A hitting coach isn’t going to change their approach as they are already financially set to not have to worry about being good at the plate
The Yankees might be the second worst team(Cardinals #1)in MLB at talent assessment. In reality SP Jordan Montgomery is worth at least 3, if not 4 Harrison Baders.
They’re both garbage. Montgomery is such an average pitcher. I don’t get why people hype him up so much. He’s literally the definition of average
When did the very mid Jordan Montgomery turn into Sandy Koufax?
Damn analytics!
The Yankees hitting hasn’t been the same since they fired Kevin Long, one of Cashman’s worst mistakes as a GM. Look at how the Mets, Nationals, and Phillies thrived with him. Hes been to 3 World Series since then. The most underated hitting coach in the game
Bauers will be an Silver Slugger winner now…. thinks only Brian Cashman.
Hate to lose him, and to the Yankees of all teams. But congrats James, you deserve this chance.
Here’s to hoping that his success as the Twins hitting coach will carry over. It’s good that he has prior experience with the organization, and I’m glad Judge seems to be having more of a say. Now to improve our lineup via other additions….