Why Harrison Bader believes Giants’ Tony Vitello will be successful MLB manager originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Tony Vitello has yet to manage an MLB game, but the Giants manager already has earned the confidence of San Francisco’s newest outfielder Harrison Bader.

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Bader, who reportedly agreed to a two-year, $20.5 million dollar contract with the Giants on Monday, explained why he has the utmost belief in Vitello as a first-year MLB manager during an interview on “The Show with Joel Sherman & Jon Heyman.”

“I think it’s awesome, I really do,” Bader said when asked about Vitello’s hire. “Baseball is the same at every single level. You add some guys in the stands, it may speed up a little bit, but it’s the same game. If you have success at a very high level in the SEC, there’s no reason you can’t have success at the major league level. I’m excited for him and his family to go out and test that. I know he has got the energy for that.”

Vitello spent eight seasons at the University of Tennessee, posting an impressive 341-131 record while leading the Volunteers to the school’s first national championship in 2024.

Bader played his college ball at the University of Florida, making connections to plenty of players and coaches who are familiar with Vitello, all of whom seemingly had glowing reviews of the new Giants manager.

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“Everybody I’ve spoken to that knows him — and I’m an SEC guy — I’m cut from the cloth of Brad Weitzel, Kevin O’Sullivan, and for those guys who know those guys over at Florida, we’re all cut from the same cloth,” Bader said. “So, that level of baseball, it doesn’t really get better in the country, in the world at that level.

“So I’m excited for him to take what he did, building a really, really good program at Tennessee, I’m excited to play for him and work with him and grow with him and learn from him because you never stop learning in this game at the major league level. So, it’s going to be exciting, I know he brings a lot of energy. Everybody has the greatest things to say about him, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Bader concluded by lauding Vitello’s high-octane energy, citing the need for an invigorated manager over the course of a 162-game season.

“You just want consistent, high, positive energy over the course of a seven, eight month season,” Bader explained. “I certainly have no reason to believe he can’t bring that ands I can’t wait to work alongside him. It’s going to be great, I know he’s excited, I know he has done a lot of things this offseason in creating that level of foundation and familiarity with a lot of his players, which is awesome. He cares a lot, clearly, which is great. I’m just looking forward to it all … I just can’t wait to dive into it all.”

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