The Orioles are hiring former Reds, Giants and Rangers coach Donnie Ek as their new bench coach, Jacob Calvin Meyer of the Baltimore Sun reports. Ecker is the Giants’ hitting coach for the 2020-21 season and works with new O’s captain Craig Albernaz. After that, he served as Texas’ hitting coach before being promoted to bench coach and offensive coordinator. The Rangers fired Ek in May after a disappointing start to the season for the Texas lineup.
Ek, 39, was drafted by the Rangers in the 22nd round of the 2007 draft and spent several seasons as a second baseman in the Rangers’ system before spending two years on the independent circuit. Since retiring, he has coached in college, worked on the Cardinals’ player development staff, and held various coaching positions (assistant hitting coach, hitting coach, bench coach, offensive coordinator) with the Reds, Giants and Rangers.
Ecker will be the first lieutenant on the new Orioles coaching staff. In addition to hiring Albernaz and Ek, Baltimore also hired Jason Bourgeois as first base/outfield coach and Dustin Lind as hitting coach. Bourgeois, a former major league outfielder who played with Albernarz in the minor leagues, has been the White Sox’s first base coach for the past two seasons. Lind also coached the 2020 Giants with Albernaz. He served as an assistant hitting coach in either San Francisco or Philadelphia each of the past five seasons.
The Orioles still have some personnel holes to fill. While Lind is the top hitting coach, they will likely add at least one assistant after former assistant hitting coaches Tommy Joseph and Sherman Johnson were not retained.
There may also be an opening at third base coach. Buck Britton assumed the role after former third base coach Tony Mansolino was promoted to interim manager following Brandon Hyde’s firing in May. Mansolino interviewed for a full-time managerial position but was not selected and has since been hired as a member of the Warriors’ coaching staff. According to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, the O’s are interested in retaining Britton, but nothing has been finalized yet. There is no official word yet on whether pitching coach Drew French, assistant pitching coach Ryan Klimek or Mitch Pressmire will be retained.
