Last week, the Yankees announced that a trio of 2021 coaches would not be back on the staff next year: third-base coach Phil Nevin and hitting coaches Marcus Thames and P.J. Pilittere. The hitting coach swap was understandable given the underachieving ways of a once-potent Yankees lineup, as was letting Nevin go after a number of bad sends home in 2021, most notably in the season-ending Wild Card Game loss to Boston.
However, it was a little odd that one other member of returning manager Aaron Boone’s corps seemingly escaped scot-free: Reggie Willits.