On Feb. 10, new Giants manager Tony Vitello will be in Arizona for his first major league spring training.

San Francisco announced its full 2026 coaching staff on Friday with several new faces. New additions to the group include pitching coach Justin Meccage and hitting coach Hunter Mense. The coaching staff announcement comes after the team signed free agents Luis Arráez and Harrison Bader to short-term deals.

Dave Flemming shared his thoughts with Matt Maiocco on Thursday at Moscone Center’s Media Row, saying “he definitely can manage” when directly asked about Vitello’s managerial hire.

“I think he’s going to do an excellent job,” he said. “It’s not just the energy and focus level; the commitment, the intensity, he’s going to have to learn, like you can be intense for 50 games, and be intense for 162 games, there’s a different balance of how you make that work.”

Flemming also compared Vitello’s relationship with his players and their development to San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.

“The players I’ve talked to are really excited to have him. He’s a talented evaluator,” he said. “I’ve always thought one thing that Kyle [Shanahan] does so well as a head coach, I think Kyle is a great talent evaluator, and it helps him, like, ‘what do I have?’, ‘what does the opponent have?’, ‘what does this guy do well?’, ‘Where can we attack a team?’, and I think Tony has that,” he said.

Vitello made history as the first college coach to make the leap to MLB manager with no prior experience. Former Tennessee beat writer Mike Wilson gave some insight on “Giants Talk” on what makes him special as a manager. Flemming noted he saw similarities between Vitello’s player evaluation and the Giants’ recent struggles.

“Tony killed the transfer portal in college because he could watch tape and watch players and go ‘that’s the guy for us’, and he batted .800 in his evaluations, and I think that translates to the program,” he said.

It’s uncertain how Vitello will fare in his first season as a major league manager, but the Arráez and Bader additions seem to address San Francisco’s defensive concerns. Leading a staff with diverse coaching expertise can only be a positive in how he determines the Opening Day lineup.

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