SURPRISE, Ariz.—The Kansas City Royals announced today that they have exercised their club option on the contract of Manager Mike Matheny for the 2023 season. Per club policy, terms were not disclosed.
“Mike is one of the finest leaders I’ve been around and the Royals are fortunate to have him managing our team,” said Dayton Moore, Royals President of Baseball Operations. “He is a tremendous competitor who cares deeply about players, the Kansas City community, and this great game of baseball. It is an absolute joy for our entire baseball operations department to work with him.”
“I’m proud and honored to work with this group of players and staff here with the Royals,” Matheny said. “Being able to continue that work is a privilege that I take very seriously. I know we’re in the middle of something special and I’m excited for our fans to see it.”
Matheny is 100-122 (.450) through his first two seasons with the Royals, after being named the 17th full-time Manager in franchise history on Oct. 31, 2019. The Royals have increased their win percentage in each of the last two seasons under Matheny, going 74-88 (.457) in 2021, following a 26-34 (.433) shortened season in 2020. In the two seasons prior to his arrival, the Royals went 58-104 (.358) and 59-103 (.364).
Matheny led the Royals to a 38-35 (.521) record after the All-Star break in 2021, which marked their best second-half record since 2015 (43-33). Kansas City’s .521 winning percentage in the second half last season was .117 better than their win percentage before the break, marking the largest increase in the American League. The Royals had 38 wins in the second half in just 73 games, after posting 36 wins in 89 games before the break, for an increase of two wins, joining the Cardinals as the only teams in the Majors to win two more games in the second half than they did in the first.
Matheny enters the 2022 season with a 691-596 career regular season record (.537), which includes his seven years as the skipper for the Cardinals from 2012-18. His win total ranks ninth among active Managers, and his .537 career winning percentage is tied with Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash and White Sox Manager, Tony La Russa, whom Matheny played for in St. Louis.
