Report: Giants add Astros assistant as hitting coach

The Giants have reportedly narrowed in on their new hitting coach, and his name is Alonzo Powell.

San Francisco intends to add Powell a few weeks after shifting Hensley Meulens to bench coach, as first reported by Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston and confirmed by the Houston Chronicle.

The San Francisco native spent the last two seasons as an assistant hitting coach for the newly minted World Series champion Astros. The wait on an announcement is presumably because of Houston's postseason run.

Powell previously spent four seasons as an assistant hitting coach for the Padres.

The alum of Lincoln High in San Francisco was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants in 1983 before being traded to the Montreal Expos. His batting average was .211 over 71 career games spanning two major league seasons - 1987 with the Expos, 1991 with the Mariners. Later, he played in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, accumulating a slash line of .313/.371/.510 from 1992-97.