
The Kansas City Royals announced changes to their coaching staff on Monday, parting ways with hitting coach Terry Bradshaw.Senior director of player development Alex Zumwalt will now join the big-league staff as a hitting coach. Both Keoni DeRenne and Mike Tosar will resume their roles as assistant hitting coach and special assignment hitting coach, respectively.The Royals are currently 12-20, sitting in fourth place in the AL Central with the worst run differential in the Junior Circuit.As a team, Kansas City is hitting .224/.289/.336 with an 85 wRC+, which ranks third-worst in the AL ahead of the dead last Oakland Athletics (77) and division-rival Detroit Tigers (83).Perhaps most emblematic of the team's failures at the plate is the fact Whit Merrifield has been struggling. The two-time All-Star set a franchise record in 2019 with a 31-game hit streak but is now hitting .183 over his first 32 games this year.By wRC+, Adalberto Mondesi, Kyle Isbel, Ryan O'Hearn, Nicky Lopez, Carlos Santana, Bobby Witt Jr., MJ Melendez, and Salvador Perez are all hitting below league average.Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.