SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants are hiring Donnie Ecker, formerly of the Reds, as their new hitting coach, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon on Thursday.

Ecker is the second confirmed member of new manager Gabe Kapler’s coaching staff, joining Ron Wotus, who is set to return as the club’s third-base coach. Ecker, 33, served as the Reds’ assistant hitting coach under Turner Ward in 2019 and earned the additional title of director of hitting in October. The promotion was intended to give Ecker a greater role in shaping Cincinnati’s organizational hitting philosophy.

A 22nd-round Draft pick of the Rangers in 2007, Ecker spent four seasons in the Minors and independent leagues before accepting his first coaching job at his alma mater, Los Altos High School in the Bay Area, in 2013. He joined the Cardinals organization two years later, working as a hitting coach at Class A Palm Beach from 2015-16 and at Class A Advanced Peoria in 2017.

He spent one season in the Angels' organization as the hitting coach at Triple-A Salt Lake before joining the Reds’ Major League staff last year. According to his Reds bio, Ecker is an “Integrated Movement Specialist” whose “teaching methods incorporate human movement research and technology-based applications to the body and swing.”

Ecker will replace Alonzo Powell, who served as the Giants’ hitting coach for two seasons before leaving to take a job with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.

The Giants are expected to announce the rest of Kapler’s coaching staff next week at the Winter Meetings, though they have already made at least one other addition aimed at bolstering their pitching infrastructure. MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reported Wednesday that the Giants have hired former Major League pitcher Brian Bannister as their new director of pitching. Bannister, who resides in the Bay Area, previously worked in the Red Sox’s front office as the vice president of pitching development.