For some Yankees players, the newest faces on Aaron Boone’s coaching staff will be familiar ones.
The Bombers, at Brian Cashman’s behest, made several changes to their big league coaching contingent after the team’s elimination in the ALDS. Gone are longtime bullpen coach Mike Harkey, first base/infield coach Travis Chapman and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler, though it’s still possible the Yankees find a new role for the latter.
In are Desi Druschel, who is back with the Yankees as an assistant pitching coach after a year with the Mets – incumbent assistant pitching coach Preston Claiborne slid into Harkey’s role – Dan Fiorito and Jake Hirst. Fiorito is taking over for Chapman with the added title of baserunning coach, while Hirst is replacing Roessler.
While Druschel already has major league experience with the Yankees, Fiorito and Hirst are rookie coaches who were called up to the big leagues after filling an array of minor league and player development jobs in the Yankees’ organization. However, Fiorito and Hirst worked with several of the club’s young – and still-developing – major league hitters in the minors, including Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Jasson Domínguez and Ben Rice.
Those four have had mixed results in the big leagues, but thrived as minor leaguers and shot up prospect rankings with Fiorito and Hirst around. That factored into the coaches’ promotions, if only a little bit.
“I mean, that’s one piece of it, but probably frankly a smaller one,” Aaron Boone said during the Winter Meetings. “We’re trying to get the best and brightest. So whether that’s guys that have worked with some of our players or not, we’re trying to get the most impactful people in obviously important, prominent positions.”
Hirst, who first joined the Yankees in 2018, most recently served as their minor league hitting coordinator. Prior to that, he was their assistant hitting coordinator and a hitting coach for their Gulf Coast League, High-A and Double-A affiliates.
Hirst, who has also worked with Spencer Jones and a few former Yankees prospects who have made The Show elsewhere, had an offer to join another major league staff at the beginning of the offseason, so the Yankees quickly promoted him after lead hitting coach James Rowson gave Cashman an enthusiastic endorsement.
“We feel like Jake has noticeably done an excellent job in player development over the last several years,” Boone said. “He has been in and around us in spring training on the big league side and helping out. Like [Fiorito], he’s kind of earned the opportunity, and I’m excited for him to step in and become an important part of our hitting group.”
Fiorito, meanwhile, grew up a Yankees fan in Yonkers, shined at Fordham Prep in the Bronx, and spent four seasons in the team’s farm system from 2013-2016 after signing as an undrafted free agent. He made it to Triple-A before becoming a coach.
Fiorito most recently worked as the Yankees’ minor league outfield and infield coordinator, and his managerial stops at High-A and Double-A overlapped with Volpe, Wells and Domínguez, among others.
“Fio’s earned that opportunity, earned that right, and he’s ready for this,” Boone said, noting the Yankees interviewed several other internal candidates for his position. “I feel like he knows our players well, has experience with a lot of our players, and has done really good work in player development and earned this opportunity.”
The Yankees are hoping that Fiorito can get Volpe back on track defensively once he recovers from shoulder surgery. A Gold Glover as a rookie in 2023, Volpe worked on his defense with Chapman, recently hired by the Tigers, nearly every day before games. However, his defensive metrics regressed dramatically this past season as errors piled up.
Fiorito will also be tasked with improving the Yankees’ baserunning, which Hal Steinbrenner called “not good” earlier this offseason following a mistake-filled campaign. While discussing the subject, the owner threw Chapman under the bus without saying his name, as Steinbrenner mentioned the coaching change before saying, “We’re going to expect better results this year.”
With Steinbrenner trying to pin all the blame on Chapman for an issue that Boone and the Yankees have downplayed over the years, Fiorito will have some help when it comes to running and infield defense.
Boone said that Ryan Hunt will assist Fiorito in an advisory role. Like Fiorito, Hunt was already working in the organization as a minor league infield and outfield coordinator.
“I’m excited about [Fiorito]. I’m excited about Ryan Hunt and what he’s going to bring in kind of overseeing it all,” Boone said. “And then hopefully, we continue to move the needle on the bases where we’re taking advantage, rightly, of our athleticism and striking that right balance between risk-reward and where you push the envelope.”
