Sean Casey won't return as Yankees hitting coach, wants to focus on spending time with daughters

Casey was installed midseason to try to get the Yankees' bats hot again

Longtime big-league first baseman Sean Casey announced on his podcast, "The Mayor's Office," that he will not return as New York Yankees hitting coach next season. Casey, who took over the position in July after the Yankees fired Dillon Lawson, cited family reasons as the primary factor in his decision.

"I have my two daughters at home. I think getting divorced a few years ago -- I have those girls 50% of the time," he said on the podcast. "I just can't imagine being away for eight months."

It's unclear who the Yankees intend to hire to replace Casey as hitting coach.  

Casey, 49, batted .302/.367/.447 (109 OPS+) over the course of a big-league career that stretched across 12 seasons. He had no formal coaching experience when the Yankees hired him from MLB Network. Still, Casey's relationship with manager Aaron Boone and the Yankees' desire to make a change at hitting coach led them to the move.

Yankees star Aaron Judge had given Casey a vote of confidence late in the year, calling him "one of the best baseball guys around."

Evaluating a hitting coach, either internally or externally, is a tricky matter. There are too many factors beyond their control to get a real grip for the impact they have (or don't have) on an offense. 

We will note, if only for posterity's sake, that the Yankees batted .231/.301/.410 and averaged 4.4 runs per game in 2023 before hiring Casey. After he was installed, the Yankees hit .221/.307/.381 and averaged 3.8 runs per game. Again, that isn't necessarily a comment on the job Casey did -- it just goes to show that making a change at hitting coach doesn't always lead to better results.

The Yankees finished the season with an 82-80 record, narrowly avoiding the franchise's first losing season and first last-place finish in the division since the 1990 campaign.