Missouri baseball adds former Royals outfielder Brian McRae to staff

Missouri baseball announced a series of staff additions Thursday, including former Royals center fielder Brian McRae, who will join the Tigers as a student assistant.

That rounds out the staff of new baseball coach Steve Bieser.

The Tigers formally announced that Dillon Lawson had been added as a volunteer assistant and would serve as hitting instructor, a move The Star had previously reported, and that Joe Migliaccio had been added as a graduate assistant.

Additionally, Bieser has chosen to retain director of operations Evan Pratte, strength and conditioning coach Scott Bird, and graduate assistant Brett Peel.

“I am extremely excited about this staff and how it all came together,” Bieser said in a statement from Mizzou athletics. “We have a mix of rising stars to go along with seasoned veterans. I feel this staff complements each other very well and will give our players everything they need to succeed and develop as both a person and player.”

McRae — a former Park University assistant coach who played for the Cubs, Mets, Rockies and Blue Jays in addition to the Royals — will work on his undergraduate degree as he helps on Bieser’s staff.

During a 10-year big-league career, McRae batted .261 with 103 home runs, 196 steals and 532 RBIs. He is the son of former Royals manager and All-Star slugger Hal McRae.

Brian McRae, who played with Bieser on the 1997 Mets, was a standout baseball and football player at Blue Springs High before the Royals selected him No. 17 overall in the 1985 draft, prompting him to give up a football scholarship at Kansas.

He also worked as an analyst for WGN-TV, with MLB.com radio and on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight.”

Lawson, a native of Louisville, Ky., had been the Astros’ Class A hitting instructor since January. He helped Southeast Missouri win two Ohio Valley Conference titles from 2013 to 2015 as hitting instructor on Bieser’s staff in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Migliaccio was Bieser’s graduate assistant at Southeast Missouri last season, primarily working as a defensive coach. He played at Florida International, Parkland College and Oral Roberts.

Meanwhile, Pratte will enter his 20th season with Mizzou baseball, his seventh as director of operations.

Bird, who formerly worked at Kansas State, has been with the Tigers since 2014. Peel played two seasons at Mizzou (2014 and 2015) and was a student assistant last season under former coach Tim Jamieson.

Missouri previously announced that Bieser had hired former Rice pitching coach Patrick Hallmark to the same position and brought Lance Rhodes with him from the Redhawks as recruiting coordinator.

This story was originally published July 28, 2016 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Missouri baseball adds former Royals outfielder Brian McRae to staff."