Yankees new hitting coach discovers ‘tension’ among team’s stars

Recently-hired New York Yankees hitting coach Sean Casey has met with Aaron Judge and some of the team’s biggest stars. What he found was tension, and then some.

New York let former hitting coach Dillon Larson go prior to the All-Star Break, hiring Sean Casey for at least the rest of the season. Yankees players lost faith in Larson’s approach at times this year, and it showed in their production.

The Yankees are hitting a major-league worst .218 since Judge went down with an injury in early June. While Judge will eventually return, New York needed to make a change. They went 14-17 in their final 31 games entering the All-Star Break, and are now fourth in the AL East standings.

Casey sounds excited about the opportunity at hand, as the Yankees (when healthy) have some of the more notable hitters in the sport on their roster.

"“I’m just really excited about having this opportunity in the second half to impact the guys in the lineup,” Casey said in a statement released by the team. “The Yankees have a lot of professional hitters, and I’m looking forward to connecting with them and getting on the same page. I’ve already spoken with both [assistant hitting coaches] Brad Wilkerson and Casey Dykes, and I can’t wait to utilize their skills and everything they have to offer. As far as our hitters go, I think every guy is different.”"

Yankees: Sean Casey discovers ‘tension’

Casey has met with Judge and some more prominent New York hitters over the break, and discovered some underlying tension about their approach at the plate.

Casey did not expand upon what that tension may be, but winning will help matters, and that’s something New York hasn’t done much of lately. The return of Judge, their best player and last season’s AL MVP, should help matters as well.