Royals finalize 2022 coaching staff

The Royals announced manager Mike Matheny’s 2022 coaching staff on Friday, including the two additions -- first-base coach Damon Hollins and assistant hitting coach Keoni DeRenne -- that the club had previously announced earlier this week.

As expected, most of the 2021 coaching staff stayed intact, with bench coach Pedro Grifol, hitting coach Terry Bradshaw, pitching coach Cal Eldred, bullpen coach Larry Carter, Major League coach John Mabry and third-base coach Vance Wilson remaining in their roles from last season. The only change from last year’s staff will be the absence of Tony Peña Jr., who will return to a Minor League coaching role in 2022.

Additionally, the Royals announced that Allan de San Miguel is joining the staff as a strategist/bullpen catcher -- after spending the last five years in Kansas City's Minor League system -- while Parker Morin will return as the lead strategist/bullpen catcher, Andy Ferguson will return as an advanced scouting analyst/strategist and Bill Duplissea will remain as the replay coordinator.

Hollins, previously the Minor League outfield and baserunning coordinator, will be the first-base coach, taking over for longtime coach Rusty Kuntz, who moved into a baseball operations role last week.

Hollins joined the Royals’ staff in September and coached first base while Kuntz was in the dugout advising him, so Hollins has built rapport with the Royals’ big league roster and its farm system.

Additionally, DeRenne will join Matheny’s staff as the assistant hitting coach, working with Bradshaw. DeRenne served as Kansas City’s assistant Minor League hitting coordinator under Alec Zumwalt and was integral into the turnaround that several Royals hitting prospects saw this season, from top prospects Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez, to those in the lower affiliates like Maikel Garcia, John Rave and Nathan Eaton -- who was recently named to the Arizona Fall League’s annual Fall Stars Game.

This will be DeRenne’s first season on a Major League staff after previously serving as a Minor League coach/coordinator in the Cubs’ (2019) and Pirates’ (2012-18) organizations.

By moving into a big league coaching role, DeRenne can work with the Major League hitters and with the prospects who will arrive in Kansas City next season.

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