The Yankees coaching staff is starting to take shape.
The team officially promoted assistant hitting coach Alan Cockrell to the top hitting coach job, taking over for Jeff Pentland.
Marcus Thames, a former Yankees outfielder who has spent the past three seasons moving up as a hitting coach with the organization's minor-league teams, will be added to the big-league staff to serve as Cockrell's assistant hitting coach.
Cockrell will be the Yankees' third hitting coach in three years, following Kevin Long and Pentland, who was informed a couple weeks ago that he would not be back for a second season.