Mike Francesa claims Cashman sacrificed Dillon Lawson to protect himself

WFAN radio personality Mike Francesa has accused Brian Cashman of terminating hitting coach Dillon Lawson to hide his failure and protect his job. He strongly criticized the Yankees general manager blaming him for unfairly sacking Lawson and using him as a scapegoat for the team’s problems.

On Sunday, hitting coach Dillon Lawson was let go from his position, and former player Sean Casey was appointed as his replacement. This decision came after the Yankees suffered a 7-4 defeat to the Chicago Cubs in The Bronx, marking the end of the team’s first half of the season.

However, Mike Francesa placed the responsibility for the team’s offensive struggles squarely on Cashman’s shoulders.

“Really scapegoating the batting coach making an in-season change, which is extremely rare for the Yankees and their coaching staff,” he said on BetRivers podcast. 

Mike Francesa flays Brian Cashman’s decision to sack Lawson

Mike Francesa began the latest episode of his self-titled BetRivers podcast by expressing his view that the Yankees were truly singling out Lawson, their batting coach, and resorting to an in-season change, which he considered to be highly uncommon for the team and its coaching staff.

Francesa pointed out that the Yankees were essentially assigning blame to someone. He mentioned that their offensive performance in the first half of the season, particularly after Aaron Judge’s absence, had been extremely poor. This led the team to feel compelled to take action and find someone to hold responsible for their struggles.

“Basically laying the blame somewhere,” he claimed. “Their first-half performance, especially since Judge went out, has been so abysmal offensively that they had to do something, they had to blame somebody.”

As the All-Star break approached, the Yankees had a combined OPS of.710, which ranked them 20th among all teams in Major League Baseball.

Mike Francesa emphasized the importance of being honest and placing the blame on the individuals responsible for constructing the roster, with Brian Cashman being the primary figure. The well-known sports host wasted no time criticizing the lineup that Brian Cashman and the front office put together for this season, highlighting how it has failed to meet the expectations set for it.

During his extensive commentary on the Bronx Bombers, which lasted for nearly 15 minutes, Mike Francesa expressed his belief that he has always considered batting instructors in the major leagues to be ineffective and lacking credibility.

https://t.co/DspF7mkrRm

— Mike Francesa (@MikeFrancesa) July 10, 2023

Mike Francesa ridiculed the team’s offense, stating that if removing the batting instructor was considered a drastic measure, it was laughable. According to him, this move by Brian Cashman was simply a way for the Yankees to appear proactive and demonstrate that they took action by dismissing the batting instructor.

He questioned the batting coach’s performance in crucial moments, asserting that there were no instances of failure since he was not at bat. According to him, Dillon Lawson’s role was primarily to provide support rather than be the reason behind the Yankees’ offensive struggles.

The onus is on bats, not on the coach, says Mike Francesa

The Yankees’ offensive statistics have been average or positioned toward the lower end of the league rankings during the first half of the year. After Sunday’s defeat, the offense of the Yankees ranked 28th in batting average (.231), 26th in on-base percentage (.300), and 19th in runs (400).

Mike Francesa pointed out that during the period when the team required significant offensive contributions from their key hitters, namely Stanton and Rizzo, who possess the potential for 30 home runs and strong RBI performances as middle-of-the-order players, both of them failed to meet expectations.

Additionally, he expressed frustration with the Yankees‘ reluctance to embrace any potential advancements or changes, perceiving it as a disregard for progress. Mike Francesca emphasized that the Yankees were facing a challenge due to their limited left-handed hitting, which was particularly problematic considering their struggles against right-handed pitchers throughout the season.

In the 75 games played against right-handed starters, the Yankees have recorded a slash line of .229/.292/.403.

Mike Francesca explained that opposing teams have the advantage of repeatedly using right-handed pitchers against the Yankees, which makes sense given the circumstances. He highlighted the effectiveness of right-handed pitchers who possess a strong curveball, as they can easily dominate the Yankees since they lack impactful left-handed hitters.

He further mentioned that in the past, the Yankees had a lineup consisting of five players capable of hitting powerful home runs at any moment. However, with Rizzo’s current performance, the team no longer possesses such a threat.

Mike Francesca found it amusing that batting coach Dillon Lawson was fired, considering the situation. Additionally, he remarked that if the Yankees wanted to hire a new batting instructor, they were free to do so, but in his opinion, it would not make a significant difference. He emphasized that the real solution to their issues was to acquire proficient hitters. This is where Brian Cashman has failed.

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