The Pent-house
Yanks hitting coach confident in lineup
Brian Cashman didn’t go into the offseason with the intention of hiring two new hitting coaches.
It wasn’t until he was involved in the interview process that the Yankees general manager came to that conclusion.
“They generally said it was a twoman job now,” Cashman said of the candidates he talked to. “I heard that a lot. It’s something I’ve never done before, but one man can’t be in all places.”
So that’s how Jeff Pentland and Alan Cockrell ended up both getting hired Monday to replace Kevin Long, with Pentland getting the top job.
The 68yearold will get to work on trying to fix a Yankees’ offense that struggled the past two seasons.
“The Yankees have a lot of veteran players, so it’s not like we’re trying to reinvent the wheel,” Pentland said by phone. “Trust is the most important thing.”
That’s why he tries not to stick to a particular hitting philosophy.
“I’m more of an individ ual guy,” Pentland said. “You need to coach each player and listen to their own personal style. You don’t want nine guys going in nine different directions, but you do have to be patient and learn what each guy can do.”
He’ll have his work cut out for him, with more than a few members of the lineup coming off of disappointing offensive seasons — some of that due to
And of course, there’s Alex Rodriguez, who Pentland first saw in the Instructional League in the early 1990s.
“I’m pretty sure I was there for his first pro hit,” said Pentland, who was scouting the Mariners for the Marlins. “You could see right away he was going to be as good as he’s been.”
Sure, but what about 2015?
“I don’t know,” Pentland said of Rodriguez, who is coming off a seasonlong suspension after his involvement in the Biogenesis PED scandal. “He’s been a great player for a long time. I know he likes to work and to hit. I know he knows what he’s doing.”
In addition to hiring Pentland and Cockrell, the Yankees also moved Rob Thomson from third base to bench coach and named Joe Espada thirdbase coach, while Tony Pena will switch from bench coach to first base.
Cashman said Cockrell previously had been hired by new vice president of operations Gary Denbo to work in the Yankees’ minor league system, but Denbo encouraged the GM to talk to him for a major league position.
As for moving Thomson to the bench, Cashman pointed to Espada’s experience as a thirdbase coach with the Marlins.
“We’ve got a diverse staff and are just trying to use all of our assets in the right places,” Cashman said.