Sean Casey is going all out in trying to bring good energy to a starved Yankees lineup.
The Bombers’ new hitting coach showed up to his introductory press conference sporting a mustache on Wednesday, the first time he has ever had one in his life. Casey told reporters the mustache is a nod to his childhood hero, Don Mattingly.
The Yankees could use production like prime Mattingly in their 2023 lineup, and Casey hopes he can help bring life to an offense that he says has made “a lot of quick outs” while showing “tension” at the plate.
“One thing I see right now is some tension,” Casey said. “I know in this game, when you struggle, the anxiety kind of creeps in a little bit and you’re chasing a little bit more. Maybe you’re swinging a little earlier than you would like, because you’re trying to do so well…it just seems like a lot of stuff is happening out in front. Hopefully, when we get into the second half, we can start really hunting the zone and getting pitches we can handle.”
Casey’s laid-back demeanor and infectious personality is what the Yankees hope will help loosen things up in the clubhouse and in the batter’s box, as the team has become one of the worst offenses in baseball since Aaron Judge went on the IL in early June. Casey has quickly gotten to work, speaking with several key members of the Yankee lineup, including Anthony Volpe, Anthony Rizzo, and the badly struggling Josh Donaldson.
Casey comes with no coaching experience, like his former Reds teammate and now manager Aaron Boone, but like Boone, he believes his post-retirement career as a TV analyst has prepared him for the job.
“MLB Network has made me so ready for this job,” Casey said.
“I've basically been a coach for a long time.”
Fans won’t have a grace period for Casey to find his way in a job that he has no prior experience with. The Bombers enter the second half of the season one game out of a playoff spot in a season that had World Series aspirations, and Casey says he is ready for that kind of demand, and is ready to hit the ground running.
“Hey, expectations in New York, expectations for myself, yeah, they’re high,” Casey said. “I would expect myself to come in and make an impact…We're here to win a World Series. That's the bottom line. Anything less than that is a failure in New York, and I understand that and I understand what that means.”
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