KANSAS CITY, Mo. — George Brett’s self-imposed 30 days as the Royals interim hitting coach are almost up.
Brett accepted the job on May 30 when hitting instructors Jack Maloof and Andre David were assigned to the minor leagues with the Royals struggling with a 21-29 record at the time and in last place in the American League Central.
Brett insisted on the “interim” tag to see how he liked coaching, renewing the grinding travel, being at the park early, etc. Plus, how would he relate to the players as a 60-year-old and the players would relate to him.
The Royals are 13-7 since Brett came on aboard.
“Believe me, we’re not winning because I’m here,” Brett said. “We’ve been winning, but it’s not due to the hitting coach. It’s the pitching coach. If we score four runs, it’s a laugher for us.”
The Royals are actually scoring fewer runs a game with Brett tutoring the offense. They were averaging 3.98 runs per game pre-Brett. They are averaging 3.84 runs a game with him.
They are winning with improved pitching, not because Brett has created an offensive juggernaut.
Brett plans to sit down with general manager Dayton Moore on this six-day, five-game homestand, which begins Friday night with the White Sox, to discuss whether to continue this experiment as the Royals hitting coach.
Brett remains non-committal on if he will remain as the hitting coach or for how long.
“It’s been all right,” he said. “We’ve won a lot of games. Baseball is always a lot of fun when you win.”
Whether Brett walks away after this homestand, which ends July 26, removes the temporary status until the end of the season or opts to give it another 30 days remains to be seen.
But Brett, a first ballot Hall of Famer who was inducted in 1999 with 3,154 hits, said he does not believe it will be a “long-term thing,” as the hitting coach.
Even though the offensive statistics have not gone up, Brett’s influence and presence are huge in the clubhouse.