Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro reflects on time with Tampa Bay Rays
Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro had a moment to himself as he took the short walk to the field from the visitors’ clubhouse.
He had made this trek a thousand times, but this particular walk felt different.
When he reached the Royals dugout, Quatraro surveyed his surroundings. The same Tropicana logo adorned the right-field wall. The stingrays swam freely near the center-field entrance.
It was just as he remembered it. Only this time, Quatraro returned with a new agenda: to lead the Royals into action against the Rays, his former team.
“This place is very special to me,” Quatraro said. “More so than the place, it is the people. Getting to see people and reconnect, I’m glad it’s happening earlier in the day.”
Quatraro spent several years in the Rays organization. The Rays drafted him in the eighth round of the 1996 MLB Draft out of Old Dominion. He matriculated through the minor league system and reached the Triple-A level.
Quatraro never played in the majors. However, he began his coaching career as a minor-league instructor with the Rays. He was the hitting coach for Class A Hudson Valley before taking over as the Rays minor league hitting instructor.
After a short stint with Cleveland, Quatraro returned to the Rays. He served as a third-base coach and was promoted to bench coach under Rays manager Kevin Cash.
The Royals hired Quatraro prior to the 2023 season. Quatraro said his journey through the Rays’ system always sticks with him.
“I’ve got to go all the way back to being drafted, that was a huge part of my life,” Quatraro said. “It’s something that I didn’t really think would happen. To have that come to fruition was really cool.”
The moment worked out for both sides.
Quatraro was able to learn from Cash and others. It prepared him to help guide a young Royals roster this season.
“It’s exciting. You are in a spot with a tremendous amount of young talent,” Quatraro said.
The Royals and Rays have drawn similar comparisons. Both are small-market teams that seek to get the most out of their talent. The Rays have developed the likes of young stars Shane McClanahan and Wander Franco.
As a result, the Rays have the best record in MLB.
The Royals are on the other end of the spectrum. KC is looking to build a new culture and chose Quatraro to spearhead the process. He has already utilized a lot of tendencies, such as an opener, that the Rays have perfected.
Now, he gets a chance to develop a young core that includes Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino, among others.
“I think our guys have handled themselves extremely well and competed very well,” Quataro said. “We have come out on the losing end quite a bit. My vision of where we are going, a lot of good things are behind the scenes.”
The Royals face the Rays in a four-game series this weekend. Quatraro is glad to reconnect and ready to compete on a high level.
“As we get closer to the game, it’s kind of funneling to that spot,” Quatraro said, “and we can go out there and try to win the game.”
