As Major League Baseball enters the second half, the New York Yankees are trying to change the direction of their season.

After their 7-4 loss Sunday, July 9, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman dismissed hitting coach Dillon Lawson. Lawson was in the midst of his second season as hitting coach.

The Yankees hired former Major League Baseball veteran first baseman Sean Casey to assume the role as the team’s new hitting coach.

According to MLB.com, tnhe Yankees finished the first half of the season with a team batting average of .231. For comparison, the Texas Rangers are hitting .274.

The Yankees have scored 400 runs in their 91 games so far. The Rangers have scored 531 runs in their 91 games.

The Yankees will enter the second half with a record of 49-42. That places them in 4th place in the American League East Division, eight games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. They are only one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox, who occupy the basement.

If high player payrolls influence baseball standings, the Yankees payroll would not indicate the type of position they now hold in the standings.

Fangraphs estimates the Yankees payroll to be $274 million, or $1 million above the third of four MLB Luxury Tax thresholds.

To this old scout, Casey, who turned 49 July 2, is an excellent candidate to be a hitting instructor.

Most importantly, Casey can relate to players. He was one of them. He knows the ropes. He knows the vigors and challenges of the game.

Casey knows what it takes to succeed on a major league baseball field

When he played the game, Casey was a master at hitting fundamentals. His swing was sweet, his contact rate very high, and his patience at the plate was outstanding.

Casey struck out only 577 times in 5,644 career plate appearances. That’s commendable. Outstanding.

Casey was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 2nd round of the 1995 MLB draft out of the University of Virginia.

A three-time All Star, Casey played at the big league level for 12 years.

The Indians traded him to the Cincinnati Reds in 1998. He has played for Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Boston.

Casey finished his career with a hitting line of .302/.367/.447/.814 in those 5,644 trips to the plate, covering 1,405 games.

At the time he was named the Yankees hitting coach, Casey was an analyst for MLB Network.

To this writer, Casey’s warm, engaging personality are just part of what makes him an ideal fit as the Yankees hitting coach.

Sean Casey has the ability to communicate with people. All types of people. All shapes and sizes of people.

When Casey played, he would often engage players in conversations at first base.

Because of his gregarious, outgoing personality, and because he was knowledgable and articulate, he was nicknamed “The Mayor.” It is both fitting and appropriate.

When Sean Casey speaks, people do listen.

One has to wonder how much a hitting coach can do to improve the offense of a major league baseball team?

Major League players have been at their crafts for years. They have developed routines, and their own hitting mechanics. How much are they willing to tweak or discard those tendencies?

It would be much easier for the Yankees if they had a healthy Aaron Judge to start the second half.

It would have been much easier for the Yankees in the first half, had slugger Giancarlo Stanton not gotten hurt. Again.

Even with Judge now on the sidelines, and Stanton still not looking like the slugger he has been in the past, the Yankees hit 129 home runs in the first half. That was good enough to land them 5th among all MLB teams. The Braves lead baseball with 169.

It would be unfair of Cashman and manager Brett Boone to expect to see the influence of Sean Casey totally transform their Yankees offense.

It might be more probable that individual players may make subtle adjustments to their hitting mechanics to create more productivity.

It would be this writer’s hope that Casey will remain the team’s hitting coach for more than the remainder of this season.

He has to have time to share his views on hitting and impart his suggestions. Some players may listen. Some players may not.

Regardless of how much the team’s offense improves, it will be important for the Yankees organization to realize that Sean Casey isn’t a miracle worker.

Sean Casey is, however, a hard worker, an intelligent man, and a former player capable of relating to the younger players he will be trying to help.

His challenge is to assist an offense that is underachieving.

Hopefully, his great communication skills and knowledge of hitting will have a positive impact and help increase the Yankees fortunes.

While a mid-season coaching change is always difficult, to this writer, Sean Casey is the right person to impart solid suggestions and help improve the team’s offense in the second half, and beyond.