On Friday, Dillon Lawson returned to Yankee Stadium for the first time since being let go as the team’s hitting coach in July 2023. His dismissal marked the first midseason firing of a coach under Brian Cashman’s management.
He’s now an assistant hitting coach with the Red Sox after spending last season as the organization’s hitting coordinator.
“It was an incredible experience, although it didn’t conclude the way I had hoped,” Lawson reflected on his tenure with the Yankees prior to the opener of the series. “Nonetheless, it was still a wonderful experience.”
Lawson shared his thoughts while standing near the home dugout in The Bronx, engaging with Yankee players, coaches, and staff, exuding a calmer demeanor than during the final days of his stint when the team’s offense was underperforming, and he faced mounting pressure.
At the time, less than a week before he was let go, Lawson said, “We have as high a ceiling as any team in all of baseball, but right now, we’ve got to do more. … There are no excuses for being shut out. It lands on me. I’m getting far less sleep and [doing] far more work.”
Lawson says he’s now a better coach than he was while with the Yankees after spending four years as the organization’s hitting coordinator.
“I just think there’s a lot that goes into this job,’’ Lawson said of being a hitting coach at the major league level. “I think about it like being a parent. You can be a great friend or a great brother, but there are some things you don’t know till you become a parent.”
He declined to discuss what changes he would have made while with the Yankees.
Aaron Judge’s toe injury suffered at Dodger Stadium in June of that season helped derail the Yankee lineup, but there were plenty of other issues with the offense prior to Judge going down, as high-priced bats like DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo were also slumping.
Lawson noted seeing Judge break Roger Maris’ home run franchise record in 2022 as being a highlight of his tenure, as well as Matt Carpenter’s stunning resurgence in the same season.
“Having gone through that and now getting to do it again with another great organization, I would do things differently,’’ Lawson said. “But I don’t regret anything.”
What made Lawson’s firing unique with the Yankees was the timing of it, which came in the middle of the year.
“It would have bothered me if it happened at the end of the year, the middle of the year, anytime,’’ Lawson said. “I was with the Yankees a long time. I was with them longer than any organization or college program I’d ever been with.
“People do get fired in this business and most people say, ‘Don’t take it personally,’ ” Lawson said. “But you’re the one getting fired and it’s your name that’s being talked about. To not take it personally, I don’t think you’d be human. So it’s gonna hurt, but I’m thankful those feelings weren’t permanent.”
