Following Sunday's loss to the Chicago Cubs, the Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman announced they have relieved Dillon Lawson of his duties as hitting coach.
Lawson, 38, has served as the team's hitting coach since the beginning of the 2022 season and has been with the organization for parts of five seasons.
This marks the first time Cashman has let go of a coach in-season during his tenure.
“It has been well documented that I have been reluctant in the past to make changes to our coaching staff in the middle of a season,” Cashman said in a statement. “I am a big believer that successes and failures are collective efforts. However, I ultimately felt that a change was needed and that a new voice overseeing our hitting operations would give us the best chance to perform closer to our capabilities as we move forward into the second half of our season.
“I want thank Dillon for all his efforts. He has a bright baseball mind that will continue to lead to a long and fruitful baseball career.”
Through the first half of the 2023 season, the Yanks own the 28th ranked team batting average at .231 and are 29th in overall team hits with 690. New York currently sits in fourth place in the AL East with a 49-42 record, one game back of the Toronto Blue Jays and eight games back of the AL-leading Tampa Bay Rays.
Prior to becoming the Yankees' hitting coach, Lawson spent his first three seasons (2019-2021) with the organization as the minor league hitting coordinator. He previously served as the hitting coach for Houston Astros' Single-A Quad Cities in 2018 and short-season Single-A Tri-City in 2016. He spent the 2017 season as the hitting coach at the University of Missouri.
Cashman and the Yankees added that "a replacement has not been named at this time."