ROYALS ANNOUNCE NATURALS 2023 FIELD STAFF
SPRINGDALE, Ark. – The Kansas City Royals have announced the 2023 coaching staff assignments for their minor league affiliates today – Friday, January 13, 2023 – and the big-league club has named Tommy Shields as the next field manager of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Shields, who served on the coaching
SPRINGDALE, Ark. – The Kansas City Royals have announced the 2023 coaching staff assignments for their minor league affiliates today – Friday, January 13, 2023 – and the big-league club has named Tommy Shields as the next field manager of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Shields, who served on the coaching staff for the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers during the 2022 season, becomes the seventh manager in Naturals’ history.
Shields, 58, takes the helm after rejoining the Royals organization in 2022 as the bench coach for the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers. This year will mark his 28th season of professional coaching and his first managerial position with the Royals since spending 2012-2014 in Burlington as the Manager/Special Assignment Scout. His last managerial position was with the Wilmington Blue Rocks (Washington Nationals) during the 2021 season.
Shields was a former 15th round selection by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1986 amateur draft out of the University of Notre Dame and he played in the Pirates’ system from 1986-1990. He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in the spring of 1991 and made his major league debut a year later. Following his stint with Baltimore, he spent 1993-1994 with the Chicago Cubs and opened the 1993 season with the big league club.
Following his playing career, Shields has been a coach, manager, scout, and player development coordinator in the Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, and Washington Nationals organizations. He currently resides in Lititz, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Melonni, and their four kids.
New staff additions include pitching coach Larry Carter, hitting coach Andy LaRoche, and assistant coach Kevin Kuntz, while bench coach Christian Colón, certified athletic trainer Danny Accola, strength and conditioning coach CJ Mikkelsen, and coordinator of clubhouse operations Danny Helmer will all return from the 2022 staff.
Larry Carter returns to Northwest Arkansas to be the pitching coach of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. He most recently served as the Major League Bullpen Coach for the Kansas City Royals from 2020-2022. Prior to that, Carter served as the Royals Minor League Pitching Coordinator from 2015-2019. This will be his 29th season as a coach and he returns to Arvest Ballpark after serving as the pitching coach for the Naturals from 2008-2012. In 2013-2014 he was the pitching coach for the Omaha Storm Chasers and was honored with the Dick Howser Award in 2014 after helping lead Omaha to its’ second straight Triple-A championship.
Andy LaRoche will be the new hitting coach of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. He is entering his sixth season with the Royals organization after serving as the hitting coach for the Quad Cities River Bandits during the 2022 season. During his tenure with Kansas City, he has also spent one season in Omaha and another as the hitting coach in Burlington in 2019. The former 39th round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003 enjoyed a six-year big league career with the Dodgers (2007-2008), Pittsburgh (2008-2010), Oakland (2011), and Toronto (2013).
Kevin Kuntz will begin his first season in Northwest Arkansas as an assistant coach. He served in a similar role with the Quad Cities last year after spending the 2021 season with Surprise. Prior to those coaching stints, he spent five years in the Royals front office, serving as a Baseball Operations Coordinator from 2019-2020, a Baseball Operations Assistant (2017-2018), and as an intern in 2016. Kuntz was selected by Kansas City in the 28th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft after playing four years at the University of Kansas.
Christian Colón returns to the Naturals’ staff as bench coach after serving as the club’s assistant hitting coach last season. The 33-year-old was the Royals' first-round pick in 2010 and played in 202 games for the Naturals (2011-2012, 2014). The former infielder spent parts of six seasons in the Major Leagues during his 12-year playing career, including four seasons with Kansas City (2014-2017), as well as stints with Miami and Cincinnati. Colón delivered the game-winning hit in the title clinching Game 5 of the 2015 World Series against the Mets.
Danny Accola enters his eighth season with the organization and second as the certified athletic trainer for the Naturals after serving in the same role with the Quad Cities in 2021. He was slated to be Wilmington’s trainer in 2020 and filled the position with Lexington (2019), Burlington (2017-2018) and Surprise (2016). He graduated from the University of Central Missouri in 2014 and held an internship with the Denver Broncos in 2013.
CJ Mikkelsen is back to serve as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals’ strength and conditioning coach for the third consecutive season. Mikkelsen received his master’s degree in sports physiology from Texas A&M in December of 2019 after earning his bachelor’s degree in exercise and wellness from Arizona State in 2016.
Danny Helmer returns as the coordinator of clubhouse operations for the Naturals. He is entering his 25th season in various roles with the organization, first for the Wichita Wranglers (nine years) and then as the home clubhouse attendant in Northwest Arkansas (13 years), before he was promoted to the coordinator of clubhouse operations by Kansas City in 2021. Helmer was honored as a co-recipient of the Royals’ Matt Minker Award in 2019 and is a three-time winner of the Texas League Visiting Clubhouse Award (2008, 2014, & 2018).