Alec Zumwalt Not Returning As Royals' Hitting Coach

A disappointing season is resulting in at least one change on the MLB coach staff for the Kansas City Royals.

Alec Zumwalt will not return as the Royals' hitting coach, although he remains in the system as the senior director of hitting performance, according to a report Tuesday by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

The Royals finished last in the AL Central at 69-93, the third-worst in the AL and fifth-worst in MLB. Hitters had a mixed bag in their performance this year. The team had the eighth-best batting average in MLB at .247, ranked 17th in on-base percentage (.316) and 16th in OPS (.718).

Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. may get some down-ballot AL MVP votes after a .281/.359/.441 slash line with 15 homers, 54 RBIs and 45 stolen bases. Right fielder Jac Caglianone also thrived in his first full MLB season, putting up a .289/.340/.494 slash line with 23 homers and 77 RBIs. But first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (.249/.333/.428), who dealt with hamate bone surgery that hindered his performance, and key offseason acquisition Isaac Collins (.213/.320/.321), especially, were among the key underperformers.