Former Dutch baseball player Hirst to join Yankees coaching staff

PELLA - Jacob Hirst got his call up to the big leagues in November and the former Central College baseball player will be an assistant coach for the New York Yankees during the 2026 season.

Hirst played for the Dutch as an outfielder from 2014-17, making 93 starts with 70 career hits. During his college playing career, he spent his summers coaching at Davenport Assumption High School and then was an assistant coach for at Augustana College (Ill.) in 2018.

While working on his master's degree at St. Ambrose University, Hirst connected with Dillon Lawson the hitting coach of the Quad Cities River Bandits, a local minor league affiliate of the Houston Astros. That relationship eventually led to a job with the Yankees organization.

He's worked at multiple stops within the Yankees organization, most recently working as the team's minor league hitting coordinator in 2025. He'll now join the Yankees staff led by Aaron Boone.

"He's earned this opportunity," Boone said in an interview with MLB.com

During his time in the Yankees organizations, Hirst has worked with Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Jasson Dominquez, all key members of the team's young core of players. Hirst was the hitting for the Somerset Patriots, the Yankees AA team in New Jersey, and the team led all of AA with 402 home runs.

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