Kansas City Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals announced today they have hired Hunter Mense to serve as a Hitting Coach on the Major League staff. He will work closely with Connor Dawson, who will remain on staff as the Royals Offensive Coordinator, and Marcus Thames, who will maintain his title as Major League Hitting Coach.
Mense, 42, spent the 2026 season as the Hitting Coach with the San Francisco Giants. From 2022-25, he was an Assistant Hitting Coach for the Toronto Blue Jays, including the 2025 team that led the Majors in batting average (.265), hits (1,461) and on-base percentage (.333) and won the American League pennant.
Prior to joining Toronto’s Major League staff, Mense was a Hitting Coach at Double-A New Hampshire in 2018 and was promoted to Toronto’s Minor League Hitting Coordinator in 2019. Before joining the Blue Jays organization, he was the Hitting Coach in 2017 for Class-A Tri-City in the Padres organization.
Mense is a native of Liberty, Mo., which is about 20 miles north of Kauffman Stadium. He played baseball at the University of Missouri from 2004-06, where he was teammates with Max Scherzer. Mense returned to Mizzou following his playing career to finish his degree and join the coaching staff. He coached for six seasons at Mizzou from 2011-16 as an Assistant Coach.
As a player at Mizzou, Mense was an All-American in 2006 and was a 2005 All-Big 12 honoree. He was a member of USA Baseball’s 2005 College National Team, and in 2006 he was selected by the Marlins in the 17th round. He played in the Marlins organization as a first baseman and outfielder from 2006-10, appearing in 349 games.