MATT QUATRARO

Kansas City Royals

By Nick Kappel, Director of Media Relations

The schedule showed that Kansas City’s offseason officially began last October 6, but in reality it began two weeks prior, when J.J. Picollo was named head of baseball operations. That move was the first domino to fall in what proved to be a busy offseason following a 97-loss 2022 campaign.

“We have to acknowledge that there’s improvement that needs to be made on all parts, from the front office to the coaching staff, on to the players,” Picollo said.

What ensued over the next two months was an overhaul of the Royals coaching staff that brought six new coaches on board, including five from outside the organization.

“It kind of pains me to say that because I’ve been very intentional in hiring people internally,” Picollo said. “We felt like we needed, at this time, to get a little bit of outside influence, fresh thoughts and challenge us professionally as well.”

That group of new coaches is headlined by new Manager, Matt Quatraro, who comes from the Tampa Bay Rays, where he served as Bench Coach. His last name is pronounced kwuh-TRAIR-roe, and the middle syllable sounds like ‘rare,’ a word that could be used to describe the success he’s had during his first two big league coaching stints.

Quatraro, who goes by ‘Q,’ was the Assistant Hitting Coach on Terry Francona’s staff in Cleveland from 2014-17, including a World Series appearance in 2016. During that four-year run in Cleveland, Quatraro worked with four Silver Slugger Award winners and the team’s offense ranked 1st in the Majors in doubles, 4th in walks and 5th in OPS.

In 2018, Q returned to Tampa Bay, the organization he played for in the minors from 1996-2002 and coached for in the minors from 2004-13. He spent five seasons on Kevin Cash’s staff with the Rays, including the last four years (2019-22) as the Bench Coach, which included a trip to the World Series in 2020. During that fouryear stretch with Quatraro as Cash’s right-hand man, the Rays went 322-244 (.590), a record that ranked 4th in the Majors behind only the Dodgers, Astros and Yankees.

Now Q has his own right-hand man, as he recruited Paul Hoover to join him in Kansas City as the Royals Bench Coach. Hoover, 46, played professionally for 14 seasons, including parts of seven seasons in the Majors. More recently, he worked with Q on Cash’s coaching staff in Tampa Bay, serving as the Major League Field Coordinator from 2019-22.

Much has been said about the successes of Cleveland and Tampa Bay, two forward-thinking clubs in small markets. The Royals are hoping Q and his new staff can help bring that success to Kansas City. And while the Royals figure to be more analytically inclined under this new leadership, there’s still a human element to the game.

“Data doesn’t make the decisions,” Quatraro said. “It informs the decisions, and it creates more questions that you can ask that help you make better decisions down the road.”

The Royals are hoping that data can better inform their pitching staff in 2023, after it ranked last in the American League in ERA in 2022.

To that end, the Royals hired Brian Sweeney to lead their pitching efforts. Sweeney, like Quatraro, has ties to Cleveland. He spent the last five seasons on Francona’s staff, including the last three as the Guardians Bullpen Coach. During that three year-run, Sweeney’s relief pitchers ranked 5th, 6th and 4th in the Majors in bullpen ERA, including a 3.02 mark in 2022.

Sweeney, 48, will be joined on the pitching side by Zach Bove, 34, who is Kansas City’s new Assistant Pitching Coach, following four seasons with the Minnesota Twins. Bove, who played in college but did not play professionally, is lauded for his ability to communicate data to players.

“I’ve talked to Sweeney and Bove about different things, different subjects,” left-handed pitcher Daniel Lynch said. “It’s cool to have two resources like that. Just sort of recognize that you have three guys now with all different strengths. … We’ve talked about pitch design and shaping. I came to them with an idea of what I wanted to do, because I really wanted to be on the same page.”

Mitch Stetter will be the Bullpen Coach, after spending the last three seasons as Kansas City’s Manager of Pitching Performance at the minor league level. Stetter, who pitched professionally for 11 seasons, has been with the Royals organization since 2015, and has worked with many of the club’s young pitchers currently on the big league roster.

Like Lynch, Brady Singer is among those who are excited for the new coaches, particularly on the pitching side. Singer, 26, had a breakout performance in 2022, and hopes the new voices of the coaching staff can help him reach even greater heights this season.

“The biggest thing I’m excited for is the background from all of them,” Singer said. “Q with the Rays, huge success there. Sweeney with the Guardians, obviously they have a really good young pitching staff. I think just a different change of techniques and ideas they have from different organizations is going to be really helpful. I think the analytical part is something that we haven’t implemented as well, and I think they’re going to bring some really good ideas.”

Like the Royals pitching last season, defense was an area of concern. The talent is there, but the consistency wasn’t. That’s why the Royals added José Alguacil to the staff as their Infield Coach.

Alguacil, 50, has played or coached for 30 years, most recently serving as Washington’s Minor League Infield Coordinator in 2022. Before that, he spent 15 seasons in the Giants organization and was the Minor League Infield Instructor for three World Series championship teams, in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Alec Zumwalt and Keoni DeRenne will remain in place as Hitting Coaches, as they continue to oversee the offensive development of Kansas City’s core position players. Miguel Garcia, now in his 23rd season with the Royals, will assist on the hitting side. He has spent the last 14 years as the club’s Batting Practice Pitcher and threw to Salvador Perez at the 2021 Home Run Derby.

Damon Hollins returns as First Base Coach and Vance Wilson remains the Third Base Coach.

This new coaching staff, with a mix of familiar faces, has the entire organization excited for the 2023 season. And while Q and his staff are eager to get to work, any progress this season will still be measured by the players’ performance on the field.

“It really does come back to -- it’s all about the players,” Quatraro said. “We got to put the players first in every decision we make. And they, in turn, perform at their best. … There’s a lot of randomness in baseball, so you put them in the best position to succeed and see what happens.”

That mindset has already made Q a favorite among his players. He’s patient and kind-hearted, but firm and fair. Those values were instilled by his parents – both of whom were teachers – which have translated well to baseball and its grueling schedule.

“My parents were instrumental in the, ‘Don’t ride the roller-coaster’ thinking,” Quatraro said. “Do the best you can, prepare yourself, work hard, and then the results are what they are. If you studied enough for your test, and you get a good grade, then you got a good grade. If you know you didn’t do the work, then don’t expect the good grade.”

The Royals were one of the youngest teams in the Majors in 2022, and that youth movement figures to continue in 2023. Led by veterans Salvador Perez and Zack Greinke, this team is hungry to improve on their “grade” from last year, and they believe Quatraro is the right man to lead that charge.

“Matt (has) a great understanding of where the game has been, where it is today and where it’s going,” Picollo said. “... Somebody that has that growth mindset and intellectual curiosity that’s going to put us in a better position moving forward.”