Marcus Thames promoted to Yankees hitting coach

NEW YORK -- Marcus Thames was promoted to hitting coach by the New York Yankees, replacing Alan Cockrell on the staff of new manager Aaron Boone.

Thames spent the past two seasons as assistant coach under Cockrell, who served as assistant to Jeff Pentland in 2015 and replaced him after that season.

P.J. Pilittere will be Thames' assist after serving as hitting coach at Double-A Trenton in 2016 and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year, the Yankees said Monday.

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bullpen coach Mike Harvey remain from manager Joe Girardi's staff. Boone said in December that Josh Bard is replacing Rob Thomson as bench coach, Phil Nevin takes over from Joe Espada as third base…