Tony Vitello is doing what no MLB manager has done before: Make the jump from college baseball to the big leagues with no prior experience in the league.
The new Giants manager has been peppered with questions about how his college experience will translate to the major leagues. But knowing the differences in coaching at the two levels is a good start.
On the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, Vitello discussed two key areas of difference between college and professional baseball.
“Recruiting, you can have a voice maybe with trades or free agency,” Vitello said. “And I think that’s something that pro players look at is: what park do I want to play in, what city do I want to live in, what coaches?”
Recruiting was one of Vitello’s strengths as the leader of the Tennessee Volunteers’ baseball program, building many strong recruiting classes to establish a foundation on which he landed the school’s first College World Series championship.
He can play a part in convincing free agents to sign with San Francisco and has the know-how to accomplish that, but the onus does not fall completely on him as it did in college.
“It’s not like recruiting goes away, but you’re not in charge of your roster anymore,” Vitello noted.
That’s where he now can rely on a baseball operations staff led by Buster Posey and Zack Minasian.
The other key difference Vitello mentions is building relationships with a variety of players at different stages of their careers.
“The kids you work with in college are so impressionable. They’ll latch on to about anything you’ll give them,” Vitello explained. “I don’t know what I don’t know, but I assume a 35-year-old in the big leagues for a while, he’s pretty much got his system figured out, so it’ll be a little bit different of a co-op or relationship there.”
Two players who have made the jump from college to MLB, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer, both believe Vitello has the tools to succeed in the majors.
“I feel blessed to be the guy, but [I’m] also the guinea pig,” Vitello said.
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