The awkward start to Tony Vitello’s career as an MLB manager with the San Francisco Giants continued during Saturday night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates (PIT 13, SF 3). In the sixth inning, Vitello made a pitching change, but did not indicate whether he wanted lefty Matt Gage or righty JT Brubaker brought into the game, confusing the two relievers and bullpen coach Jesse Chavez.
Eventually, shortstop Willy Adames made the call for Gage, which, to be fair, was the obvious move with the lefty hitting Oneil Cruz due up. Perhaps Vitello assumed his bullpen crew knew he wanted Gage given Cruz’s upcoming at-bat?
The Pirates broke the game open an inning later and cruised to an easy win. The bullpen snafu is just a footnote in what became San Francisco’s ninth loss in the last 11 games. They have baseball’s second-worst record at 15-24 and the game’s worst run differential at minus-49. A fifth straight postseason-less season seems assured for the Giants.
Following Saturday’s loss, Vitello was asked about the boos his team heard throughout the game. He reported he understands them — who doesn’t? — and not-so-subtly called out his team’s effort.
“What would you do? They paid for their ticket, or at the very least, even if this was free, they chose this over everything else,” Vitello reported about the booing fans. “I mean, there’s 85 million shows you can watch on Netflix or in this city, I haven’t gone out much, but whenever I have, there’s a lot going on. I grew up in a weird situation; I never had one team that was deeply rooted in my family and passed down. I’ve seen it in college and in pro sports, but I kind of had a different deal going on. Whether you paid for your tickets or you just chose to do this over other options, or maybe your walls are painted orange and black and this is the team your whole family for generations has supported, you got a lot invested, so you want something in return. At the very least a good effort, maybe execution here and there. (You) would also like, in turn, it’s almost like a teammate thing, which sounds silly.
“There are some big boys in the lineup and it’s a challenging game, you’re not going to be perfect all the time. There might be some things you wish you could redo, a play, you might sit on a different pitch, whatever it might be. I think it got to the point where it wasn’t an acceptable effort, so they probably did what you or I would maybe do. I don’t know that I would do that — I always try to be as positive as possible — but I think it’s pretty realistic. Maybe in a reverse psychology, it provides a little extra motivation.”
Vitello has stuck his foot in his mouth a few times already this year, most notably when he reported he gave the team a “fire and brimstone” speech before Opening Day and used old college grudges to defend his first ejection. I don’t think Vitello saying “it wasn’t an acceptable effort” is that bad though. At some point, you have to call a spade a spade and not dance around the obvious. It’s a largely veteran team and the players know the deal. It’s OK they hear it.
While Vitello certainly hasn’t distinguished himself in his first 39 games as an MLB manager, it is not his fault the Giants are near the bottom of the standings. Adames, Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers have a combined .596 OPS. Ace Logan Webb has a 5.06 ERA. Offseason signings Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle have combined for a 5.60 ERA. Closer Ryan Walker has put 29 runners on base in 15 ⅓ innings. The blame starts with the players, always.
We ranked Vitello dead last in our recent new manager rankings. The Giants hired him away from the University of Tennessee, making him the first person ever to jump from college to a big-league managerial job without any professional playing or coaching experience. That lack of experience has shown at times.
POBO Buster Posey began to shake up his roster prior to Saturday’s game, when he traded catcher Patrick Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians for a draft pick and a pitching prospect. It’s possible more changes will follow in the coming weeks.
