Yankees announce new manager Boone's staff

[February 06, 2018]  New manager Aaron Boone's staff was announced Monday by the New York Yankees.

Marcus Thames, the Yankees' assistant hitting coach the past two years, will take over as hitting coach in 2018.

Former hitting coach Alan Cockrell is out.

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bullpen coach Mike Harvey were retained, with Rothschild heading into his eighth season on the job and Harvey his ninth season over two stints.

Josh Bard, the Los Angeles Dodgers' bullpen coach last year, is the Yankees' new bench coach. Bard and Boone were teammates in their playing days.

The Yankees' previous bench coach, Rob Thomson, was hired to the same position by the Philadelphia Phillies in December.

Reggie Willits replaces Tony Pena as first base coach, and Phil Nevin is in as third base coach in place of Joe Espada. Willits has additional duties as outfield coach.

 

P.J. Pilitter, a longtime coach in the Yankees' farm system, was promoted to be Thames' assistant hitting coach. Carlos Mendoza takes over as quality control coach/infield instructor, Jason Brown is the catching coach, and Radley Haddad remains a coaching assistant/bullpen catcher.

The Yankees retained instant replay coordinator Brett Weber even though the team failed to challenge a hit-by-pitch call in the American League Division Series that was a key moment in a loss to the Cleveland Indians. Former manager Joe Girardi wound up taking the blame for the mistake.

--Field Level Media

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