The KC Royals have a new pitching coach ... and they took him from an AL Central rival

The Kansas City Royals have settled on a new leader for their pitching staff, and they scooped him up from a division rival that has been among the top organizations in Major League Baseball in producing pitching talent in recent years. The Royals hired former big-league pitcher Brian Sweeney, who has been the bullpen coach for the Cleveland Guardians for the past three years, as their new pitching coach.

How Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis mastered the ‘art of the mound visit’

Candlesticks always make a nice gift.

Willis said he tends to remember mound visits that do not work out more than the ones that result in success. He recalled a visit he paid to Danys Baez years ago when the right-hander was facing Reds slugger Russell Branyan.

“I sat back down and the next pitch was a double off the wall that just barely missed being a home run,” Willis said. “It ended up driving in the winning runs. You wear those things a little bit.”

There are times when Willis says he’s cracked a joke just to lighten the mood, because things can get incredibly intense out there.

“It comes down to execution and it also comes down to that building trust and understanding ahead of time,” Willis said. “Nothing in this game is absolute. You may execute exactly what we thought was best and have it still not work out. You just can’t be fearful.”