The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Friday that Rick Eckstein has been hired as the club's new hitting coach. The announcement was made by Executive Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington and Manager Clint Hurdle.
"Rick Eckstein brings experience, knowledge and a relentless drive to combine old-school thought and newschool concepts to help our Major League Team," said Huntington. "His ability to impact each player's approach and skill set will aid in our ability to create runs and maximize our performance as a team. The various roles Rick has held have prepared him to implement an individualized mental, physical and fundamental program to benefit our Major League team and our organization."
The 45-year-old Eckstein spent the last two seasons serving as Minnesota's minor league hitting coordinator. Prior to his time in Minnesota, he spent 2015 and 2016 as the assistant coach with the University of Kentucky baseball team.
This will be Eckstein's second big league job as a hitting coach after holding the same position for the Washington Nationals from 2009-13. He also served as a player information coach, assistant hitting coach and an advanced scout for the Los Angeles Angels in 2014.
Eckstein also served as a coach in the Montreal Expos organization in 2004-05 as the Double-A hitting coach in 2004 and was a coach in extended spring training in 2005. He also was a hitting coach at the Triple-A level for the Nationals organization in 2008 and 2006 and with the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 2007.