Ron Wotus and who? See how the Giants assembled a young, inexperienced coaching staff

SAN DIEGO — Of the eight coaches who officially joined new manager Gabe Kapler’s first staff on Wednesday, only two reached the majors as players.

The staff Kapler is assembling for the Giants is a departure from the norm in San Francisco, but it aligns with an industry-wide trend of hiring non-traditional candidates that teams believe are better-suited to facilitate player development.

“The most important thing to hire for in a coach and leader is can they connect with players?” Kapler said. “Are they able to develop players and are the players aware immediately that the coach can help them get better? Those factors weigh more heavily in my mind than say 15 years in the big leagues.”

The Giants announced the hiring of three hitting coaches Wednesday including former Los Altos High head coach Donnie Ecker. Ecker, 33, and former Dodgers minor league assistant Justin Viele, 29, were both given the title of “major league hitting coach” while Dustin Lind will serve as the Giants’ director of hitting.

Ecker spent last season as an assistant hitting coach for the Reds while Viele coached a high-powered Great Lakes Loons offense in the Midwest League. Lind comes to the Giants from the Mariners organization and brings a background in physical therapy. The 31-year-old worked as an independent hitting instructor from 2014-2017 while studying to earn a doctorate degree from the University of Montana.

“The primary piece of reference-checking was talking to players that had been around these coaches,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said. “Maybe the single most important input into the process was hearing from players.”

The Giants did tab a former major leaguer, Andrew Bailey, 35, as their pitching coach, and he’ll work with an assistant pitching coach in Ethan Katz, 36, and a bullpen/catching coach in Craig Albernaz, 37, who spent a combined 13 seasons playing in the minors.

Bailey was selected after the Giants completed more than 10 interviews for the position formerly held by Curt Young. He’ll lead the Giants’ major league staff but will receive plenty of input from former Royals right-hander Brian Bannister, 38, who was hired as San Francisco’s pitching director.

Bannister was a coveted candidate who left a role with the Red Sox to join the Giants organization, but Kapler indicated he will not be in the dugout during games.

The only returning coach from Bochy’s last staff is Ron Wotus, 58, who will retain his job as third base coach and play a significant role in assisting Kapler with in-game decisions. The Giants’ first-year manager said he’ll rely on Wotus and new bench coach Kai Correa, 31, when he’s contemplating strategical choices.

“When I talk about some shared responsibility, it’s really important to leverage the experience that Ron Wotus has,” Kapler said. “In every strategy decision, I’m going to be leaning heavily on him, Kai and Andrew Bailey for counsel.”

Kapler said the Giants are still in the process of hiring a first base coach and said the organization is prioritizing candidates who are native Spanish speakers.

The Giants have not made a decision on whether to retain video replay assistant Shawon Dunston, but are in no rush to fill the position and could have a current member of their video team handle in-game responsibilities if Dunston does not return.

Kapler confirmed senior director of athletic training Dave Groeschner and baseball operations analysts Michael Schwartzee and Jack McGeary will return in 2020 and were heavily involved in the process of hiring the new staff. Groeschner has met with every coach the Giants have hired.

The common threads among the coaches the Giants added Wednesday is that they’re almost all young and lacking significant or any experience at the major league level. They’re also all well-regarded by their previous employers and several have been recognized for helping players enjoy breakout seasons.

If there’s public concern about how many of the veteran Giants players will take to a staff that doesn’t possess similar playing experience, Zaidi and Kapler aren’t worried. Kapler said even the best players are hungry to continue developing and he’s confident the staff being assembled is full of capable, high-achieving leaders.

“What I did recognize as a common denominator is a high degree of preparation and a high degree of care and a willingness to put the player first at all costs,” Kapler said.