Eric Hacker

Eric Lynn Hacker (born March 26, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Hacker stands and weighs . He throws right-handed but is a switch hitter. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, and San Francisco Giants, and in the KBO League for the NC Dinos and Nexen Heroes. He throws a fastball, a slider, a curveball, and a changeup.

Hacker was drafted out of Duncanville High School by the New York Yankees in 2002. He pitched in their minor league system from 2002 to 2009 (missing 2004 and 2006 with injuries) before getting traded to the Pirates. He made his major league debut with Pittsburgh on September 22, 2009, and pitched in three games for them that season. He signed with the Giants in the offseason and spent the entire 2010 season in the minor leagues. In 2011, he signed with the Twins and appeared in two games with them. He signed with San Francisco in 2012 and made his first career start in the majors, recording a loss. He also pitched three games in relief for the Giants that year.

High school and personal life Hacker was born in Duncanville, Texas; growing up, he attended Duncanville High School. He was named the starting quarterback on the school's football team his senior year, but he broke his foot in the second game of the season. Although some colleges were interested in him as a football player, he decided to concentrate on baseball as a result of the injury. As a senior, he was a third-team Class 5A All-State pitcher. Currently, Hacker lives in Southlake, Texas, with his wife, Christine, whom he married in November 2008. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2004 and missed the entire season. During his time with the GCL Yankees, he was roommates with Brandon Weeden. The two still correspond.

In 2005, Hacker pitched for the Charleston RiverDogs of the Single-A South Atlantic League and was named to the league's All-Star game. On July 2, he threw eight shutout innings in a 1–0 victory over the Rome Braves. However, Hacker was placed on the disabled list the next day and missed the rest of the season with right shoulder inflammation. He began the season with Trenton, where he recorded a 1–1 record, a 4.11 ERA, eight strikeouts, seven walks, and innings pitched in three starts. After three starts, he was promoted to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he had an 0–1 record, a 7.88 ERA, 12 strikeouts, four walks, and 16 innings pitched in three starts.

Pittsburgh Pirates On May 16, 2009, Hacker was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Rómulo Sánchez. The Pirates assigned him to the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians of the International League. He was named the IL Pitcher of the Week for August 3–9 after winning both of his starts and striking out 14 hitters during the week. He recorded a 5–5 record, a 4.02 ERA, 82 strikeouts, 46 walks, and innings pitched in 21 starts and was called up to the majors for the first time on September 8 following the IL season.

Hacker made his major league debut on September 22, allowing two runs in an inning in a 10–4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. He pitched a scoreless inning in a 6–0 loss to the Chicago Cubs in his next game on September 29. In his final game of the year on October 4, he pitched a scoreless inning in a 6–0 loss to Cincinnati. Hacker had no record, a 6.00 ERA, one strikeout, two walks, and three innings pitched in his three games with the Pirates. He was outrighted (sent to the minors and removed from the 40-man roster) on November 6, and he became a minor league free agent on November 9.

San Francisco Giants (first stint) On December 18, 2009, Hacker signed with the San Francisco Giants. His 16 wins led the PCL, the highest total since 1995 when Donne Wall won 17. He made his Twins' debut that day, throwing two scoreless innings in an 11–0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. In his next game on April 27, he gave up one unearned run in innings but allowed three inherited runners to score in an 8–2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. After the game, Hacker was optioned back to Triple-A Rochester to make room on the roster for Anthony Swarzak. On July 17, he was outrighted off the 40-man roster to make room for Scott Diamond. With the Rochester Red Wings of the International League, Hacker had a 7–14 record, a 6.10 ERA, 98 strikeouts, 50 walks, and innings pitched in 26 games (25 starts). He tied with Diamond for the league lead in losses, ranked sixth in the league in walks, led the league in runs allowed (103), and ranked third in the league in earned runs allowed (92, behind Thad Weber's 95 and Corey Kluber's 93). On October 4, he became a free agent. Hacker was selected to the PCL All-Star Game in 2012. On August 17, he was called up to be used as a long reliever soon after Brad Penny was placed on the disabled list. The next day, he gave up a run in innings (a home run by Carlos Quentin) in an 8–7 victory over San Diego. He gave up a run in one inning (a home run by Will Venable) in a 7–1 loss to San Diego on August 19. He allowed a run in one inning in a 7–3 loss to the Atlanta Braves in his next outing on August 25. After the game, Hacker was optioned to Fresno to make room for Eli Whiteside when the Giants decided to have three catchers on their roster. With the Giants, he had an 0–1 record, a 5.59 ERA, eight strikeouts, two walks, and innings pitched in four games (one start).

In 26 games (25 starts) with Fresno, Hacker had a 12–6 record, a 4.01 ERA, 103 strikeouts, and 43 walks in innings pitched. He tied with Tom Koehler, Ryan Verdugo, and Brad Peacock for fourth in the PCL in wins (behind John Ely's and Sean O'Sullivan's 14 and Barry Enright's 13) and finished fourth in ERA (behind Ely's 3.20, Yusmeiro Petit's 3.46, and Brad Hand's 4.00). He was designated for assignment on September 4 to make room for Emmanuel Burriss on the Giants' roster, and he became a free agent four days later.

NC Dinos

On January 15, 2013, Hacker signed with the NC Dinos in their inaugural season in the KBO League. Hacker was part of a starting rotation alongside fellow former MLB pitchers Charlie Shirek and Adam Wilk. On April 4, Hacker started against the Lotte Giants. He pitched 7 innings while allowing 3 earned runs, but no run support and poor defense caused him to take the loss. During the rest of April, Hacker had a lot of trouble in dealing with runners on base, because his pitching motion was vulnerable to stolen bases. So, by the end of April, Hacker was forced to make changes his pitching delivery. On March 10, he faced the Doosan Bears, and his delivery was changed. Twelve days later, he got his first win in KBO.

In late 2013, Hacker re-signed for the 2014 season with NC Dinos. He later re-signed twice with the Dinos. Hacker's best season in the KBO was 2015, when he led the league with 19 wins to go along with a 3.13 ERA and 164 strikeouts. For his efforts we was given the 2015 pitcher's Golden Glove Award. Hacker pitched for the Dinos in the 2016 Korean Series, starting and losing Game Two. On December 27, 2016, Hacker signed a one-year, $1 million contract to remain with the Dinos. He started and won the deciding fifth game of the 2017 Semi-playoffs against the Lotte Giants, as the Dinos won 9–0.

Nexen Heroes On June 20, 2018, Hacker signed a $300,000 contract with the Nexen Heroes of the KBO League.

Hacker spent six seasons in the KBO League, going 61–37 (.622 winning percentage) with a 3.66 ERA and 675 strikeouts.

Pitching style Hacker throws four pitches: a fastball, a slider, a curveball, and a changeup. Early in his minor league career, he only threw the fastball and the slider; former Indians' pitching coach Ray Searage believes the other two pitches have helped him keep hitters "off balance."