Yankees’ new hitting coach James Rowson putting focus on situational hitting

TAMPA — Aaron Judge has done it regularly in his career, dating back to his college days, but now James Rowson is beating him to the punch.

During a few rounds of batting practice every day, the Yankees’ new hitting coach will split the group of four hitters into two teams and call out different game scenarios: Runners on second and third, one out, infield in — five swings to get the job done.

The practice creates some competition between teammates but also prepares the Yankees for the kind of situations they may find themselves in during the game later that day.

“Just kind of gets us thinking so when we hop into game situations, it’s like, ‘Oh, first and third, one out? I’ve already done this 20 times,’” Judge said Thursday. “It’s exceptional. … That’s just always translated for me. And I like a little competition.”

The pregame routine is part of an emphasis on situational hitting, part of the game that DJ LeMahieu said “is going to be held to a higher standard” under Rowson.

The Yankees were one of the majors’ worst offenses last season in just about every area, and situational hitting was no exception.

Under Dillon Lawson and then Sean Casey as hitting coaches, they hit .227 with a .677 OPS with runners in scoring position, both of which ranked second-to-last in the majors.

Not since 2019 have the Yankees been one of the game’s better teams at hitting with runners in scoring position.

That year, they ranked first in both batting average (.294) and OPS (.890) with runners in scoring position.

Not surprisingly, they scored the most runs per game (5.82) in the majors that season.