The Los Altos Town Crier had a big story to publish in November 2012:
“Los Altos High officials didn’t have to look far to find their next varsity baseball coach … Donnie Ecker — the team’s assistant head coach the past two years — has been hired to replace Sandy Wihtol.”
The Town Crier better hold the presses again. A mere seven years later, the Giants have hired Ecker as one of their big-league hitting coaches, sources told The Chronicle. His precise title in the coaching hierarchy was not immediately clear.
Ecker is 33, which makes him a half-year younger than third baseman Evan Longoria and a year older than catcher Buster Posey. Longoria and Ecker actually were teammates at Long Beach State for one season.
Ecker was hitting coach for the Angels’ Triple-A Salt Lake City affiliate in 2018 and is steeped in modern evaluation techniques such as biomechanics. Last year he was an assistant hitting coach with the Cincinnati Reds.
“His teaching methods incorporate human movement research and technology-based applications to the body and swing. (He) is an Integrated Movement Specialist and certified under the IFPA Biomechanics of Sports,” Ecker’s entry in the 2019 Reds Media guide said.
His hiring, which the Giants have not confirmed, is a clear sign that radical changes lie ahead now that manager Bruce Bochy is gone, and that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and new manager Gabe Kapler have a freer hand now to sculpt not just the roster, but the staff.
Ron Wotus, rehired as third-base coach, is expected to be the only holdover.
In an interview with The Chronicle on Friday, Reds manager David Bell raved about Ecker’s personality and teaching techniques.
“The Giants organization is getting a good one, just a great person, super-talented in what he does — just the understanding of the swing, understanding of how the body works, but he’s also really well-balanced in his approach in all facets of hitting,” Bell said.
Ecker was credited with helping several young Reds, particularly rookie Aristides Aquino, improve.
The challenge Ecker and his fellow hitting coaches will face is convincing older players such as Posey, Longoria, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford to buy in.
Bell had an answer for that.
“As a young, middle or older player, I wish I would have had a lot of information I have now, and a lot of that I learned from him,” Bell said.
“It’s all about Donnie’s style and his delivery and his ability to communicate. He has such a great understanding. Part of what makes him good is, he can take pretty complex ideas and simplify them for the team.”
Ecker played at Los Altos High en route to Long Beach State, then Lewis-Clark State in Idaho. The Rangers selected him with their 22nd pick in the 2007 draft, but his playing career as an infielder lasted just two seasons in organized ball and two more in independent ball.
After that, he returned home to Los Altos to begin his career as a high school coach, which he was doing as recently as 2014.
The Giants are expected to announce their full staff next week at the winter meetings.
They also have hired former Royals pitcher and Red Sox executive Brian Bannister to be their director of pitching, according to multiple reports. Bannister already lists the San Francisco Giants on his Twitter bio.
Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: hschulman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hankschulman
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Giants hire 33-year-old hitting coach whose approach led to fast rise - San Francisco Chronicle
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