It seems like about ten years ago or so every team in Major
League Baseball went from having just one hitting coach at the Major League
level to two hitting coaches. Eventually the New York Yankees caught up with
the times and hired an assistant hitting coach to help out with their crew of
sluggers the team employs, and this year will be no different. Last season New
York had Marcus Thames in the position but after a promotion for Thames the
team needed to fill the position with another former Yankees farmhand, and they
did so when the team hired former catcher P.J. Pilittere. Let’s meet the
Yankees Assitant Hitting Coach. This is Meet a Coach: The P.J. Pilittere
Edition.
Peter John Pilittere was born on November 23, 1981 and is
the current assistant hitting coach for the New York Yankees. The Yankees are
the only organization that Pilittere has ever known as this was the team that
drafted him out of college. Pilittere attended California State University, Fullerton,
better known as Cal State Fullerton, where the Yankees drafted him in the 13th
round of the 2004 MLB First Year Players Draft. Pilittere toiled around in the
Yankees Minor League system until the 2011 season making various stops around
the farm.
After Pilittere decided to retire he became a coach for
numerous teams with the Yankees minor league affiliates before finally landing
his first MLB gig here in 2018. I love watching one of the Yankees own not only
play through their minor league system, but also work their way through their
minor league system all the way to the Major Leagues as either a player, a
coach or both. Congratulations to P.J., and good luck in the new position. I
have a feeling with this lineup that P.J. won’t need it, but good luck
nonetheless.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)