Kansas City Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced today they have hired Marcus Thames (TEMS) to serve as a Hitting Coach on the Major League staff. He will work closely with Alec Zumwalt, Kansas City’s Sr. Director of Hitting Performance and Hitting Coach and Connor Dawson, who was hired as Hitting Coach last week.
Thames, 48, has been a Hitting Coach in the Majors for the last 10 seasons, including from 2016-21 with the New York Yankees, 2022 with the Miami Marlins, 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels and 2024-25 with the Chicago White Sox. His coaching career began with three seasons in the Yankees organization as a Hitting Coach across various levels from 2013-15.
During his tenure on the Yankees Major League staff from 2016-21, New York led the Majors with 1,313 home runs. In 2020, he worked with the Major League batting champion DJ LeMahieu (.364) and Major League home run leader Luke Voit (22).
In 2023, the Angels offense under his guidance ranked among the American League leaders in home runs (3rd, 231), slugging percentage (5th, .426) and OPS (7th, .743). During that season, Shohei Ohtani led the American League in HR (44), on-base percentage (.412), slugging percentage (.654) and OPS (1.066) and won his second Most Valuable Player Award.
After the All-Star break in 2025, the White Sox offense ranked 5th in the American League in runs per game (4.85), home runs (89) and batting average (.250).