Kansas City Royals Go With 3-Man Approach to Fix Lineup Problems

The Kansas City Royals are rebuilding their hitting staff after a 2026 season that exposed a ton of problems with their lineup.

The club hired Hunter Mense as a hitting coach for 2027, with Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reporting the move on X. Mense spent this past season as the San Francisco Giants’ hitting coach and previously worked with the Toronto Blue Jays.

He joins Marcus Thames and Connor Dawson to form a three-man hitting staff. Dawson is expected to take on an offensive coordinator role, while Thames and Mense serve as co-hitting coaches.

The restructuring comes after former hitting coach Alec Zumwalt was reassigned. He is staying with the organization as senior director of hitting performance but moves away from major-league coaching duties.

Kansas City finished 69-93, last in the AL Central. The lack of run production was a big reason why. The offense ranked 22nd in the majors at 4.26 runs per game. The Royals hit .248 with a .316 on-base percentage and .402 slugging percentage, struck out 1,272 times and drew only 512 walks. They ranked 10th in hits with 1,346 but could not turn contact into runs consistently enough.

The individual talent is there. Bobby Witt Jr. remains one of the best players in the American League, hitting .281 with an .800 OPS, 18 home runs and 45 stolen bases in 143 games. His 6.7 WAR led the team by a wide margin.

Jac Caglianone inserted pop into the lineup in his first full season, hitting .289 with 23 home runs, 75 RBI and an .834 OPS in 143 games.

Carter Jensen added 27 home runs and 81 RBI in 149 games, though he struck out 170 times. Salvador Perez hit 21 home runs and drove in 78 runs. Vinnie Pasquantino finished at .249 with 17 home runs in 114 games.

The gap between individual production and team results is exactly what the new staff will be asked to close. Witt, Caglianone and Jensen give Kansas City a young foundation with lots of upside. The issue in 2026 was not a lack of capable hitters but an inability to string together consistent production.

Mense brings a fresh set of eyes after working in San Francisco. Thames has a decade of major-league coaching experience. Dawson came to Kansas City from Milwaukee. The varied backgrounds give the organization different perspectives to draw from as they build a plan that works for this specific group of hitters.

None of this guarantees a turnaround. But Kansas City identified a problem, made a move to fix it and now has a structure in place heading into 2027.