Alec Zumwalt

Sean Alexander Zumwalt

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 205 lb.
• High School East Forsyth High School

• Born January 20, 1981 in Kingman, AZ USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Alec Zumwalt played from 2002 to 2008. He spent ten years in professional baseball, having started out as an outfielder.

Zumwalt was chosen by the Atlanta Braves in the 4th round of the 1999 amateur draft. He debuted professionally with the GCL Braves, hitting .207/.284/.282 with 48 strikeouts in 188 AB. Moving up to the Danville Braves in 2000, Zumwalt's batting line improved to .235/.368/.373 with an Appalachian League-best 10 outfield assists. He hit 15 doubles in 204 AB, but struck out 67 times. In 2001, Alec batted just .209/.286/.330 for the Macon Braves, striking out in 101 of 349 AB. The team converted him into a pitcher after that campaign.

Alec pitched for Macon (2-1, 4.31 in 24 games) and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (0-3, 1 Sv, 8.63) in 2002. The next year, he was with the Pelicans (5-2, 6 Sv, 2.22 in 30 games, .190 opponent average) and the Greenville Braves (1-1, 1.42 in 11 games, .191 opponent average, 19 K in 19 IP). He was taken in the 2003 Rule V Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays but was returned to the Braves.

In 2004, Zumwalt was with Greenville, going 3-7 with one save and a 5.09 ERA. He was then traded as a player to be named later along with Jose Capellan in exchange for Danny Kolb. With the 2005 Huntsville Stars, Zumwalt had a 1-2, 3 Sv, 4.15 line while he had a 1-0, 1 Sv, 4.61 record in his first 9 AAA appearances, for the Nashville Sounds.

In 2006, Alec split time between Huntsville (1-0, 5 Sv, 2.93) and Nashville (0-3, 15 Sv, 3.69, 45 K in 39 IP). He saved the most games of any pitcher in the Milwaukee farm system. He was 0-5 with a 5.98 ERA in 34 appearances (including the only start of his career) for Nashville and the Sacramento River Cats of the Milwaukee Brewers system in 2007 and in 2008, with the independent Camden Riversharks, he was 4-2 with 24 saves and a 2.89 ERA in 50 relief appearances. He led the Atlantic League in saves (four ahead of Eddy Ramos) and games finished (46).

Overall, Zumwalt was 18-26 with a 57 saves and a 4.25 ERA in 303 games.

In a rare move for a former pitcher, Zumwalt was named hitting coach of the Kansas City Royals on May 16, 2022, replacing Terry Bradshaw. The route to this new position is rather interesting. The Royals hired Zumwalt in late 2011 as a pro scout. A year later he became the team's major league advance scout, a role he held through the 2017 season. The decision to hold Alex Gordon at third base during the 9th inning of Game 7 of the 2014 World Series was based partly upon Zumwalt's advice not to challenge Brandon Crawford's arm. Zumwalt changed roles in 2018 when he was promoted to Director of Baseball Operations. Another change came in 2020 when Zumwalt became the Director of Hitting Performance. In 2022, he was named Senior Director for Player Development and Hitting Performance, a title he retained even after taking over as the major league hitting coach to replace the fired Terry Bradshaw. In 2023 Zumwalt continued as the team's hitting coach with the slightly different title for his broader role - Senior Director of Hitting Performance.

Sources: 2000-2007 Baseball Almanacs, Nashville Sounds bio, Bravesbeat.com, MILB.com