Yankees' Triple-A coach Larson got start at King

Players aren't the only minor leaguers with a major league dream. Peter Larson shares a similar goal as a coach for the Scanton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. "I think any role, that would be awesome and that is definitely the dream and the goal and see what happens," Larson said. "Until then just keep working hard and enjoying each season and help guys get to the big leagues." Currently in his eighth season in the minor leagues, Larson is a former assistant baseball coach at King University in Bristol. His job is now to develop pitchers to reach the big leagues. "That is the goal is to create big league value and impact big leaguers," Larson said. "Yes, it is awesome to get them up there, but you don't want one day in the big leagues, you want to be up there and pitch a lot and contribute for a long time." Larson spent six seasons with the Minnesota Twins, working as a Triple-A pitching coach for the St. Paul Saints in 2023-24. An opportunity to get closer to his family led him to leave the Twins for the tradition-rich Yankees in 2025, serving as the pitching coach for the Double-A Somerset Patriots last year. "It is great. Living in New York and having a lot of friends and neighbors that are huge Yankees fans, I think they were just as excited as I was to join New York and be a part of it," said Larson, who resides in Rochester, N.Y. with his wife, Ashley, and two young children. "I played against Yankees' affiliates for a few years and to be on the other side, it is definitely as advertised. A lot of tradition, a lot of history. It is a great group to be a part of it." Larson played at Ferrum College before spending two years in independent leagues and serving three years as an assistant coach at a pair of Virginia high schools. He stepped into the college game in 2015 at King for head coach Blaine Brown, who is now the athletic director at Tennessee High. Luke Howard was also part of that staff. "I wouldn't be where I am at right now if it wasn't for him taking a chance on a really green inexperienced coach," Larson said. "I learned a lot from him that one year, the same with Luke, they were really good role models and showed me what good should be and what a good work ethic should look like." Larson stepped up a level after that season, spending a year apiece at Siena and Albany and just over a season at Fordham in New York, all of which helped in his adjustment to professional baseball. "You have to be on top of stuff in college because it is an all day thing and then you have to get ready and do it again. You are wearing so many different hats and so many different responsibilities that you just have to be on top of everything," Larson said. "It is no different here. The players are better and more experienced, but they still need and crave coaching and instruction and they all want to get back to the big leagues if they have already been up or get there for the first time. That is the driving factor every day." Larson was offered an opportunity by Minnesota in 2019, and decided to take a chance. Call that a good decision. He has spent three years in Triple-A, two in Double-A, and has helped develop such current All-Stars as Louie Varland with the Toronto Blue Jays and Cam Schlittler for the Yankees. "Making the move from college baseball to the pro side and then climbing the ladder with Minnesota was really cool," Larson said. "I went to every level and got to experience what those moves look like. Each level has different challenges, and spent the last couple of years in Triple-A there. "That was close to the big leagues and what that looked like on a day-to-day basis of being able to support the big league team if there are any roster changes or moves. You have guys moving up and down too so seeing the impact that you could have on a nightly basis at the big league level was pretty cool." Larson left the Twins for the Yankees in 2025, serving as pitching coach for Somerset, and then moved to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in what could be called a dual role for the RailRiders. "I think I am a pitching coach all the up until first pitch," Larson said. "Then I just go out to the pen and just help those guys get whatever they need and get ready to come in and hopefully close it out and give us a shot to win each night." Much has happened since Larson coached at King all those years ago, but lessons learned along the way carry him no matter what diamond he is on. "I owe a lot of those guys. I wouldn't be here without them because it could have easily gone the other way, but they chose to invest time and effort and saw something in me that I needed to return," Larson said. "Every year I try to live off that and try to help other guys that are getting into it. "Now I have been around so long I have former players that are coaching and getting into it and trying to share some of the same advice I was getting and work ethic and all that stuff too. I am truly in debt to those guys for giving me that opportunity. I failed along the way, succeeded, learned a lot. It was a perfect spot to start my coaching career."