Marcus Thames and Phil Nevin among three Yankees coaches not returning in 2022, source says
Yankees third base coach Phil Nevin waves to the crowd in the first inning against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium on June 18, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees made their first offseason moves after a disappointing end to the season, informing hitting coach Marcus Thames, assistant hitting coach P.J. Pilittere and third-base coach Phil Nevin they will not be returning in 2022, according to a source.
The rest of Aaron Boone’s staff — the vast majority of whom, like the manager, have their contracts set to expire — had not yet learned their fate as of late Thursday afternoon, the source said.
Boone, hired before the 2018 season to replace Joe Girardi, has been a regular presence at the Stadium since the Yankees were eliminated by the Red Sox, 6-2, in the American League wild-card game Oct. 5 at Fenway Park.
Newsday reported the day after that loss that unhappy Yankees fans wanting a change in the manager's seat should "not be surprised" to see Boone, 328-218 in four seasons in which he’s reached the postseason each year, return because he is "well-liked" by both general manager Brian Cashman and managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, but that there could be some "cosmetic" changes made to his staff.
Thames, the hitting coach since 2018 and overwhelmingly popular with players, was thought to be in trouble pretty much since April when the Yankees’ offense struggled out of the gate and never really got going consistently.
The Yankees’ offense — with the exception of a handful of spurts in the 92-70 season — did not become the behemoth it was predicted to be. Among the forgettable numbers was the group finishing 10th (out of 15 teams) in the AL in runs at 711, and 13th in batting average at .237. The Yankees did finish fifth in on-base percentage at .322 and seventh in OPS at .729.
It is important to point out Thames’ and Pilittere’s approach as coaches reflected the organization’s overall philosophy when it comes to hitting, the reason a change there may well be nothing more than gratuitous.
The fiery Nevin, like Thames in his post since the 2018 season, also enjoyed widespread popularity among players. But he at times, like many in the organization — players and staff — didn’t always project an all-in enthusiasm behind the scenes for the franchise’s all-in approach to analytics, which likely put him in the crosshairs. The Yankees also had a league-high 22 runners thrown out at home this season, though given how badly the club ran the bases overall this season, holding Nevin solely responsible would be a stretch.
Nevin’s aggressive send of Aaron Judge in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ wild-card loss — Judge was thrown out at the plate, keeping the score 3-1 Red Sox — might have sealed his fate, but in all probability it was decided well before that.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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