Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams today named J.R. House third base/catching coach and Donnie Ecker assistant hitting coach for new manager David Bell.
House, 39, and Ecker, 32, are the third and fourth coaches added to Bell's Major League staff, joining pitching coach Derek Johnson and hitting coach Turner Ward.
House spent the last 7 seasons in various roles the player development department of the Arizona Diamondbacks, as a hitting coach for Rookie Missoula (2012) and Class A Hillsboro (2013), as a manager for Hillsboro (2014), Class A Visalia (2015-2016) and Class AA Jackson (2017) and last season as minor league field coordinator. He was the 2015 California League Manager of the Year at Visalia.
The West Virginia native and former catcher was selected by Pittsburgh in the fifth round of the June 1999 free agent draft and played parts of 5 seasons in the Major Leagues for the Pirates, Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles.
In 2005, he played quarterback for West Virginia University.
Ecker spent the 2018 season as the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Angels' Class AAA affiliate in Salt Lake. He began his coaching career at Los Altos (CA) High School (2013-2014) before joining the St. Louis Cardinals' player development department to serve as hitting coach for Class A Palm Beach (2015-2016) and Peoria (2017).
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