The Orioles are hiring former Reds, Giants and Rangers coach Donnie Ecker as their new bench coach, reports the Baltimore Sun’s Jacob Calvin Meyer. Ecker was the Giants’ hitting coach in 2020-21 and worked alongside new O’s skipper Craig Albernaz on that staff. Following that stint, he was the hitting coach in Texas before being promoted to bench coach and offensive coordinator. The Rangers fired Ecker back in May after a disappointing start to the season for the Texas lineup.
The 39-year-old Ecker was a 22nd-round draft pick by the Rangers back in 2007 and spent a couple seasons as a second baseman in their system before moving onto a two-year stint on the independent circuit. Since calling it quits as a player, he’s coached in the college ranks, worked on the Cardinals’ player development staff and held several coaching roles (assistant hitting coach, hitting coach, bench coach, offensive coordinator) between the Reds, Giants and Rangers.
Ecker will be the top lieutenant for a new-look Orioles coaching staff. Beyond the hirings of Albernaz and Ecker, Baltimore has brought in Jason Bourgeois as a first base/outfield coach and hired Dustin Lind as a hitting coach. Bourgeois, a former big league outfielder who played with Albernaz in the minors, has spent the past two seasons as the White Sox’ first base coach. Lind also coached with Albernaz on the 2020 Giants. He’s been an assistant hitting coach with either San Francisco or Philadelphia in each of the past five seasons.
The Orioles still have a handful of vacancies to fill on the staff. While Lind is the top hitting coach, they’ll likely add at least one assistant after former assistant hitting coaches Tommy Joseph and Sherman Johnson were not retained.
There could also be an opening at third base coach. Buck Britton held that role after former third base coach Tony Mansolino was elevated to interim manager following Brandon Hyde’s dismissal in May. Mansolino interviewed for the full-time managerial post but was not selected for the job and has since been hired to the Braves’ coaching staff. The O’s have interest in retaining Britton, per MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, but nothing has been finalized. There’s been no formal word on whether pitching coach Drew French, assistant pitching coach Ryan Klimek or Mitch Plassmeyer will be retained.
Not any big names being hired by Albie. Imagine that is by design, but maybe an old sage in the dugout would be valuable with such a young group of players and coaches. Keep Buck though.