After Thursday’s announcement of the 2021 Minor League Baseball schedule, the Royals finalized their Minor League coaching staff on Friday. Triple-A Omaha will return the same staff, with manager Brian Poldberg in his eighth season, pitching coach Dane Johnson in his second and hitting coach Brian Buchanan in his fourth.

In Class A Advanced -- Quad Cities’ first season as a Royals affiliate -- Mike Jirschele will be the bench coach. Jirschele worked with former manager Ned Yost on the Royals’ Major League coaching staff from 2014-19 and has 17 seasons of experience as a Minor League manager. He served as a special assistant last season.

Here’s who will manage and coach in Kansas City’s farm system this season:

Triple-A Omaha: Manager Brian Poldberg, pitching coach Dane Johnson, hitting coach Brian Buchanan
Double-A Northwest Arkansas: Manager Scott Thorman, pitching coach Derrick Lewis, hitting coach Abraham Nunez
Class A Advanced Quad Cities: (Iowa) Manager Chris Widger, bench coach Mike Jirschele, pitching coach Steve Luebber, hitting coach Andy LaRoche
Class A Columbia (S.C.): Manager Brooks Conrad, bench coach Glenn Hubbard, pitching coach Carlos Martinez, hitting coach Jesus Azuaje

In addition, the Royals will have a full staff for their summer league in Surprise, Ariz., as well as their two teams in the Dominican Summer League.

Shorter spring games on tap
From Feb. 28 through March 13, Spring Training games will be scheduled for seven innings, rather than the usual nine-inning contests seen in typical years. However, if both managers agree, the games may be shortened to five innings or lengthened to nine innings. Clubs who want to modify their scheduled game lengths must notify MLB before 4 p.m. CT the day before the game.

On March 14, all games will be scheduled as nine-inning games but can be shortened to seven innings if the managers of both clubs agree.

Spring Training tickets
Surprise Stadium will begin selling Cactus League tickets on Saturday at 9 a.m. CT for Spring Training games taking place Feb. 28 through March 29. Due to the coronavirus, the ballpark will be limited to less than 2,000 fans per game, and ticketing will be done in physically distanced seating pods of two, four and six people. Those in attendance will be required to wear face coverings.

More information about ticketing can be found at surprisestadium.com.