The New York Yankees have informed hitting coach Marcus Thames and third-base coach Phil Nevin that their contracts will not be renewed for the 2022 season, as first reported by The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler.
The news comes as the baseball world seemingly waits for word on the future of manager Aaron Boone. Some expected clarity to be supplied on Wednesday with no postseason games schedule, but nary a whisper came from Yankees camp.
Regardless, the writing had been on the wall for some time for both Thames and Nevin.
Despite the Yankees ranking ninth in on-base percentage (.322) and 13th in OPS (.729) — they averaged a below-league-average 4.39 runs per game while their team batting average of .237 ranked 23rd in the majors. When it came to clutch-hitting, the Yankees fared even worse, ranking 26th in team average with runners in scoring position (.238) and 28th in RBI with RISP (412).
The blame naturally fell on Thames, who started in 2015 with the Yankees as an assistant hitting coach before getting a promotion in 2017 to his most previous position.
For Nevin, his aggressive handling of situations on the base paths often ran the Yankees out of threatening scoring chances. However, his most egregious send proved to be his dooming one.
Trailing 3-1 with one out in the sixth inning of the AL Wild Card Game against the Boston Red Sox, Nevin sent Aaron Judge — who was on first — home after a laser of a double off the Green Monster at Fenway Park by Giancarlo Stanton. Judge, who obliged Nevin’s send, was thrown out by 15 feet.
Had Nevin held Judge, the Yankees would have had runners on the corners with one out down two runs. Instead, the threat was over in what eventually evolved into a 6-2 loss that ended the Yankees’ season.
