This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- This offseason, the Rangers hired Giants co-hitting coach Justin Viele as a hitting coach, replacing Tim Hyers, who left Texas to take the same job with his hometown Braves.
Viele worked with Texas offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker in San Francisco from 2020-21. The two of them, and assistant hitting coach Seth Conner make up the Rangers' offensive staff for 2025. At the time of the hire, president of baseball operations Chris Young said that Texas interviewed a number of internal candidates, but Viele’s experience and existing relationship with Ecker stood out.
As the Rangers completed their first two full squad workouts of Spring Training, Viele sat down to catch up on his new role with the club.
MLB.com: What drew you to leaving San Francisco and taking this job?
Viele: “It’s obviously a great organization. I could tell right away through the interview process, just talking to different people in the org, it was pretty impressive. Just the vision and what they want to do. Obviously, winning a World Series a couple years ago, they've been there and they want to maintain that and they want to stay there. Having worked with Donnie and Seth, I have a history with both of them, that was a huge draw to this. Working for [manager Bruce Bochy] is pretty amazing. Not many people get to say that they're working for a Hall of Fame manager like that. And then lastly, just the conversation with CY, he blew me away. It was so intense, and he’s so excited about the future of Texas Rangers baseball.”
MLB.com: What intrigues you the most about working with [Ecker and Connor] and then also just this team in general?
Viele: Nothing against anybody in my time in San Francisco. I loved my time there, I loved the people that I got to work with. But Donnie has been like an older brother to me over the years. We've stayed in touch weekly over the years when we weren't coaching together. Seth, I just know the personality and he's so fun to be around. I just want to come to a place where we can really enjoy who we're working with and enjoy what we do every day. I'm excited to see those guys every day. That's a huge draw to it. Donnie, he knows all my tricks. I know all his tricks. We're very aligned in a lot of ways. That was a big part of the draw. Obviously, you see the roster and you see the potential of the roster. But if you're working with people you love, the roster is the roster. You want to work with people that you really care about and want to be around every day and are excited to see every day.
MLB.com: As a hitting coach, do you look at a struggling team like “I can hit that?”
Viele: I got into coaching to help the Frederick Keys, who needed help in 2015. They needed me to throw BP and hit fungoes and put balls on the tee and just help. That's why I got into coaching. I got into it to help baseball players, whoever that is. I still have to get to know them. I have to build a relationship with them. I've been a coach that I feel like builds that trust first before I come in guns blazing, like, ‘Hey, you need to change this.’ Sure, like any hitting coach looks at the video and we see what we think we can help him with. But at the same time, I don't even know the guys. I gotta build that rapport first. I take a lot of pride in that part of it.
MLB.com: What have you enjoyed most about working and being around Bruce Bochy?
Viele: He gave the first meeting of Spring Training, and people would pay big money to see that. I had the chills the whole time. I can't believe I'm listening to Bruce Bochy give this talk to the players and just like his presence. At the same time, he asks me good questions throughout the process. A Hall of Fame manager really showing that he cares about what I think. That's a really cool thing. It's not just like, ‘Oh, this guy's young, he doesn't know what he's talking about.’ He’s really valued me so far. That part's been really cool, because I value him a lot. You can't take away anything from him, he's done so much in this game, and it’s so cool to be around him.”