Connor Dawson is heading home. as the Royals announced today that the Kansas City-area native has been hired as the team’s new hitting coach. Dawson has been a hitting coach for the Brewers since 2022. David Lesky of Inside The Crown reported earlier this week that Dawson was joining the K.C. coaching staff.
Dawson went to high school near Kauffman Stadium. He played community college ball a couple of hours south of Kansas City. Dawson got his start with Seattle, serving as a minor league hitting coach from 2019 to 2021. He joined Milwaukee as a hitting coach in 2022, working in tandem with Ozzie Timmons. Dawson worked under lead hitting coach Al LeBoeuf in 2025. “It’s a tough loss for us, but it’s home for him,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold told reporters on Thursday, including Anne Rogers of MLB.com.
The Brewers ranked top 10 in scoring in three of Dawson’s four seasons with the team. Milwaukee finished third in runs this past season. Toronto was the only team with a better walk-to-strikeout ratio in 2025. The Brewers found offensive success without a standout season from any player. No Milwaukee regular posted an OPS above .800, though Andrew Vaughn did post an .869 mark in his half-season with the team. The Brewers were able to generate runs by stacking up a bunch of hitters with OPS marks around .750.
The balanced approach on offense could work in Kansas City. While the Royals got strong production from the top of the lineup, they struggled to find viable options beyond their first five hitters. The club ranked 26th in scoring this past season. Kansas City made contact at an elite rate, but wasn’t able to generate much power. The Royals hit the fifth-fewest home runs and finished middle-of-the-pack in slugging percentage and isolated power.