{"id":2070849,"date":"2025-10-05T20:02:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T20:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2070849"},"modified":"2025-10-05T20:02:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T20:02:04","slug":"coaching-notes-royals-pirates-diamondbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/coaching-notes-royals-pirates-diamondbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Coaching Notes: Royals, Pirates, Diamondbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Royals<\/strong> GM J.J. Picollo told reporters (including Anne Rogers of MLB.com<\/a>) after the regular season came to a close that he expected that \u201cmost of the [coaching] staff\u201d <\/em>(including hitting coach Alec Zumwait) will return to Kansas City in 2026. At the time, he acknowledged that there might be some \u201ctweaks\u201d<\/em> to the staff in hopes of getting the most out of the club\u2019s players. Today, Picollo provided more details on those tweaks when he told Rogers<\/a> that the Royals won\u2019t renew the contracts of assistant hitting coaches Keoni DeRenne and Joe Dillon<\/a><\/strong> for the 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n

DeRenne has been in the Royals organization since 2020 and has spent the past four seasons as the club\u2019s assistant hitting coach. He previously coached in the Cubs and Pirates organizations at the minor league level. Dillon, meanwhile, has been an assistant hitting coach for the Royals in each of the past two seasons and has previously served as an assistant hitting coach for the Nationals and spent two years as the hitting coach for the Phillies in addition to time in the Nationals and Marlins organizations coaching at the minor league level. Picollo praised the pair\u2019s work in Kansas City, telling Rogers that both are \u201creally good, tireless workers\u201d\u00a0<\/em>who will \u201cend up in a good spot somewhere in the game.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>The duo figure to have plenty of opportunities to catch on somewhere with so many teams changing managers this winter. Many of those new managers will look to make tweaks to their team\u2019s coaching staff, which could benefit coaches like DeRenne and Dillon.<\/p>\n

As for the Royals themselves, the departures of their assistant hitting coaches will create an opportunity to bring in fresh voices to complement Zumwait. Kansas City finished the season with a team-wide wRC of just 93, even in spite of strong performances from core pieces like Vinnie Pasquantino<\/a><\/strong>, Maikel Garcia<\/a><\/strong>, and Bobby Witt Jr.<\/a><\/strong> at the place. That\u2019s because much of the club\u2019s supporting cast disappointed in a big way, while some players counted on to be threats high in the batting order like Jonathan India<\/a><\/strong> and Jac Caglianone<\/a><\/strong> failed to produce. While the Royals might hope that a veteran like India can return to form on his own, a young player like Caglianone could surely benefit from the guidance that new members of the coaching staff could offer.<\/p>\n

More from around the league\u2019s coaching staffs\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n