KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Royals will not be bringing back two of their hitting coaches for the 2026 season.
The club decided not to re-sign assistant hitting coaches Keoni DeRenne and Joe Dillon, according to MLB.com’s Anne Rogers.
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DeRenne has been with the Royals organization since 2020, when he was brought in as the Minor League assistant hitting coordinator. Dillon joined the club in 2024 as an assistant hitting coach.
Royals GM J.J. Picollo emphasized that hitting coach Alec Zumwalt would be returning for the 2026 season, but there would be changes to this staff.
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“Most of our staff’s going to be coming back, we’ve got to make some decisions on the hitting side. Alec Zumwalt is going to be our hitting coach,” Picollo said earlier in the week.
“We have a lot of belief in what Alec has done in the Minor Leagues and how he has led the Minor League department now in the Major Leagues. Guys have gotten better.”
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While the Royals have maintained one of the best starting rotations in baseball the last two seasons, the bats have struggled to match their production with inconsistency throughout the lineup.
They averaged 4.02 runs per game this season, which was good for 26th in the Majors. They were also 26th with 159 home runs and 15th in batting average at .247.
The club has a solid core of Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez, Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino and promising young talent in Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone.
After having one of the biggest turnarounds in MLB history in 2024 and making the postseason, the Royals fell short in 2025, finishing 82-80.
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With all the Royals’ key players returning, they should have high expectations going into 2026.
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