The New York Yankees have dismissed Larry Rothschild, the club's pitching coach, the team announced on Monday. Rothschild, 65, had been the Yankees pitching coach since 2011.
"I want to personally thank Larry for his near decade of commitment to this organization," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said in a statement. "Larry cares deeply about his craft and the pitchers under his tutelage, and he played a significant role in our successes over the past nine seasons. There's a reason why Larry has had the type of distinguished baseball career he's had, and it starts with experience and dedication that is difficult to emulate."
The Yankees may have finished the 2019 regular season with 103-wins, but their starting rotation was viewed as a weak point due to injuries and inconsistency. Yankees ace Luis Severino didn't make his season debut until mid-September after injury setbacks. Veteran lefty CC Sabathia fought through his right knee pain during his final season. Other starting pitchers Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ and James Paxton all experienced ups and downs.
The Yankees notably did not swing a trade to address starting pitching at the July 31 trade deadline. New York was forced to use 12 different starting pitchers, and only Tanaka reached 180 innings pitched. At the end of the season, the Yankees ranked 14th in the league with a 4.31 ERA. It's a drop from the year's previous mark of 3.78, which ranked for 10th best.
Rothschild has spent the last 18 years as a pitching coach for the Yankees and Chicago Cubs. He also served as the manager of the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays in their inaugural season, 1998, until 2001. If he is still interested in coaching in professional baseball, Rothschild could find himself reunited with Joe Girardi in Philadelphia. The former Yankees skipper was recently named the Phillies manager.
