Connect with us

Published

on

NEW YORK — James Rowson, who developed a good relationship with Aaron Judge in the minor leagues, was hired Monday as the Yankees’ hitting coach after a season in which New York finished with the next-to-worst batting average in the major leagues.

Dillon Lawson was fired at the All-Star break after 1½ seasons as hitting coach in New York’s first in-season coaching change since Nardi Contreras replaced Billy Connors as pitching coach in July 1995. Lawson was replaced by Sean Casey, who decided he didn’t want to return for 2024.

Rowson, 47, was the hitting coach of Class A Tampa in 2006 and ’07 and was the Yankees’ minor league hitting coordinator from 2008 to ’11 and 2014 to ’16, the last three years as Judge worked his way up the farm system.

Rowson left the Yankees to become the Chicago Cubs‘ minor league hitting coordinator in 2012, then was promoted to major league hitting coach from June 2012 through the 2013 season. He was the Minnesota Twins‘ hitting coach from 2017 to ’19 and was the Miami Marlins‘ bench coach from 2020 to ’22, when the team was managed by former Yankees captain Don Mattingly. Rowson was the Detroit Tigers‘ assistant hitting coach this year.

A native of Mount Vernon, New York, Rowson played in the minor league systems of the Seattle Mariners (1995-96) and the Yankees (1997) and independent ball in 1998. He coached in the Angels’ system at rookie level Provo (2002) and at Class A Cedar Rapids (2003) and Rancho Cucamonga (2004-05).

New York hit .227 this season, ahead of only Oakland’s .223 and the third lowest in Yankees history behind .214 in 1968 and .225 in 1967. The Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and at 82-80 narrowly avoided what would have been their first losing season since 1992.

Owner Hal Steinbrenner called the season “awful,” and general manager Brian Cashman termed it “a disaster.”

Continue Reading

Sports

QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Published

on

By

QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

Published

on

By

Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

Published

on

By

Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

No. 12 Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne for Saturday’s showdown against No. 7 Tennessee.

Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.

Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.

Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.

The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.

That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Continue Reading

Trending