The Royals are bringing in Hunter Mense as an assistant hitting coach, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Feinsand and Maria I. Guardado had initially reported Mense as Kansas City’s new hitting coach.
Mense, 42, is making a fast move after landing his first major league hitting coach job less than a year ago with the Giants. He was working under first-time big league manager Tony Vitello, who had been hired about a month earlier out of the college ranks. Now Mense is headed to Kansas City.
He also brings a Missouri connection to the job. Mense was born in Liberty and played college baseball at the University of Missouri.
After that, he was drafted by the Marlins in 2006 and spent several years in Miami’s minor league system without reaching the majors. He later spent time in independent ball before turning to coaching, including work in the Blue Jays’ minor league system.
Toronto then promoted him to its big league staff in 2022 as assistant hitting coach.
There isn’t a huge sample from his lone season in San Francisco, but the Giants’ offense was not strong. The club posted a combined .245/.306/.400 line with a 97 wRC+.
Injuries played a part, and the results were again below par in 2025, when the team hit .235/.311/.386 for a 98 wRC+. It’s possible the Giants were planning a broader shake-up around Vitello, and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area suggests this may not be the only change on that staff.
Kansas City is hoping Mense can help a lineup that has struggled for a long time. The Royals’ 2026 club hit .248/.316/.402 with a 98 wRC+, and they’ll be looking for Mense to help them find another level.
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It also changes the way Kansas City can think about the next wave of infield talent. Young prospects such as Angeibel Gomez are turning heads in the Arizona Fall League, and the Royals have other players and roster questions to weigh as they map out 2027. Masseys emergence does not close the door on competition, but it does make the picture more crowded in a good way, with the organization now trying to fit promising pieces around a position that suddenly looks less open than it did not long ago. [Read more 🡒]
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Wachas contract status and age make him a tricky trade chip anyway, because moving him would only make sense if the return were substantial. The problem for the Royals is that such a return is not likely to materialize, and dealing him would only create another hole in a rotation that already needs reinforcing. If Kansas City wants to keep itself positioned for 2027, keeping Wacha around may be the safer play. [Read more 🡒]