The Giants introduced Tony Vitello today. Here’s the link to his press conference:
ogc thoughts
I thought that Vitello did a fine job. He was open and honest, funny and self effacing. He will be a fun interview when meeting the press after games, and with KNBR and NBC Sports regularly.
Don’t know how this will all turn out, but it certainly will be an interesting story for the next few years, at minimum.
I’m mostly positive because of a number of factors. One is that he build his analytics team and taught his players how to use the insights well enough to win the CWS as well as win 60 games for the first time in 22 seasons. I think that’s been a hard job to do in MLB.
Second is his humanity. He shows that he cares for each of his players, recognizes that everyone is individual. I think that’s been missing from the analytics aspect, understanding that these are humans and not simple baseball cards that you manipulate.
Third is that he has been focused on developing players and as we have seen, even major leaguers need further development to reach their potential. The Giants have a ton of young players and prospects who need that extra bit of development to be better players in the majors. I like that he has been a pitching coach before, I think that is crucial for a pitching and defense oriented team. That and attention to details, which is good for defense.
Fourth is his great ability at communicating. That’s always key, he didn’t bull shit or rah rahed his press conference, he acknowledged the elephants in the room, and he said he wasn’t going to slam his fist down and say he will fix things. He said he will work hard with this group to win together.
Hopefully these work together and he will deliver wins.
FYI: per Baseball America reporting, Frank Anderson is leaving UT for the Giants. He was their pitching coach but new Giants role is unknown.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/tennessee-pitching-coach-frank-anderson-expected-to-join-tony-vitello-with-giants/
Given how crucial he appears to be for UT’s pitching success, per this article, I would guess he’s the new pitching director, like Bannister, since Meccage was just named the pitching coach.
So, here’s an NBC article on Justin Meccage (sounds like message): https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/mlb/san-francisco-giants/justin-meccage-pitching-coach/1892898/
DeleteNo ties to Vitello, basically made his name with the Pirates, rising up their coaching ranks until he was let go after 2024.
Article also noted the rumored new hitting coach, Hunter Mence, who was assistant hitting coach with Toronto and has ties to Vitello, I believe when at Missouri, as well as Jayce Tingler, former Padres manager and longtime buddy of Vitello, whose new Giants role is yet to be determined. It was presumed he would be the bench coach, as that was his role with the Twins until they fired their manager after the season, but maybe he will get a new role (associate manager? https://www.mlb.com/news/demarlo-hale-discusses-role-as-associate-manager )
Also, Quentin Eberhardt of UT was hired to be Director of Performance for the Giants, per sources:
Deletehttps://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/other-sports/2025/11/14/quentin-eberhardt-san-francisco-giants-tennessee-baseball/87215175007/