One of the biggest stories coming out of the San Francisco Giants‘ camp this winter was not their free agent moves, but their decision to hire a new manager. They will head into the future with Tony Vitello leading the way, replacing Bob Melvin. 

Vitello doesn’t have any experience at the big league level, but was one of the most successful college coaches in recent years. He led the University of Tennessee to an NCAA title in 2024. 

Luckily for him, he has a few players on the Giants who used to play under him in college. This includes Drew Gilbert, Blake Tidwell, Gavin Kilen, and Maui Ahuna. 

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A college connection could lead this Giants’ prospect to the starting rotation 

This is a unique situation in which a college coach will be reuniting with some of his former players. However, not all of these guys will be on the Opening Day roster. 

Gilbert is a strong candidate to make the Opening Day roster, but it looks a bit tougher for Tidwell. He could work as the No. 5 starter, but there are some other options San Francisco could go with. 

Despite the other options, the crew over at MLB.com believes that with a good spring, Tidwell could win that final spot. 

“Tidwell’s new manager with the Giants, Tony Vitello, also was his college coach at Tennessee, so that helps his cause. So does a mid-90s fastball and a pair of quality sliders, an 80-83 mph sweeper and a more traditional 82-85 mph version. Acquired from the New York Mets in the Tyler Rogers trade last July, he fashioned a 3.62 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 97 Triple-A innings.”

Tidwell has the stuff that could play well in the big leagues, but his inexperience could overshadow his stuff. Landen Roupp is coming off a great season last year, and it could be between him and Tidwell for the final starting spot in the rotation.

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