The Kansas City Royals will be looking to make upgrades on the field and in the clubhouse this offseason. The Royals reassigned hitting coach Alec Zumwalt to senior director of hitting performance earlier this offseason. Now they have hired a coach for the hitting staff, one who was coaching in the World Series just two seasons ago.

The Royals have added Hunter Mense as a hitting coach, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Mense was the San Francisco Giants’ hitting coach last season, but now joins the Royals staff to work alongside hitting coach Marcus Thames and offensive coordinator Connor Dawson.

Last season was Mense only season with the Giants; from 2022-2025, he was an assistant hitting coach with the Toronto Blue Jays. Of course, the Blue Jays made the World Series in 2025, where their offense ranked third in OPS (.761) and fourth in WRC+ (112) in the majors that season.

In Mense’s three years with the Blue Jays, the team’s offense had a 109 WRC+, the fourth-best mark in the majors. Toronto hitters had the fifth-best OPS at .748, and the lowest K% at 19.8%. Their .265 batting average was also the best. Mense will be a welcome addition to the Royals. In his time with the Blue Jays, he focused on swing mechanics and drill design.

The Royals are bringing a local back to help build towards a World Series

Royals fans shouldn’t take too much stock in the Giants’ underwhelming offense in 2026, because it was just a one-year sample. San Fran hitters had a combined 97 WRC+ and .706 OPS, both 23rd in the majors.

Joining the Royals staff is a return home for the 42-year-old. Mense is from Liberty, Missouri, less than a 30-minute drive from Kauffman Stadium. He attended the University of Missouri from 2004 to 2006, where he was a member of the school’s baseball team. He earned All-American honors for his performance during his final season.

Mense was a 17th-round draft pick by the Marlins in 2006. He played 349 games in the minors across five seasons, reaching as high as Triple-A in 2010. He called it quits after the 2010 season, heading back to Mizzou to join the coaching staff for six seasons (2011-2016), becoming their full-time hitting coach in 2014. He made the jump to the pro ranks in 2017 with the Padres Single-A affiliate.

The Royals are hoping that they can tap into some of the offensive magic he helped the Blue Jays find during his tenure with them. The Royals were in the middle of the pack offensively in 2026, but are looking to take a step forward with the emerging young core they have.

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