The Royals are set to add to their staff of hitting coaches.
The club agreed to hire hitting coach Hunter Mense from the Giants to join their staff, sources told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand and Maria Guardado on Thursday. The Royals have not confirmed the hire.
Once the hire is announced, Connor Dawson is expected to be the offensive coordinator, while Marcus Thames and Mense will be co-hitting coaches at the big league level. Alec Zumwalt, who had served as Kansas City's hitting coach for the past five seasons before being removed from the role at the end of the 2026 regular season, will remain in the organization as senior director of hitting performance and will focus on the Minor Leagues.
The 42-year-old Mense, who is a Missouri native, served as the Blue Jays’ assistant hitting coach from 2022-25 before joining manager Tony Vitello’s staff in San Francisco ahead of the 2026 season.
The Royals ranked 22nd in the Majors runs scored this past season (690) and have ranked among MLB’s bottom 10 in runs in 10 of the past 11 years.