{"id":565153,"date":"2026-02-11T00:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T00:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/565153\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T00:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T00:24:08","slug":"inside-tony-vitellos-first-day-managing-the-giants-this-is-my-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/565153\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Tony Vitello\u2019s first day managing the Giants: \u2018This is my guy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the <\/a>Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the \u201cSection 415\u201d podcast <\/a>wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. \u2013 New Giants manager Tony Vitello likes to ramble. He says so himself. He rambled Tuesday morning when addressing his pitchers and catchers for the first time in a group. He rambled some more when answering reporters\u2019 questions. And he\u2019ll likely ramble throughout spring training.<\/p>\n

For now, everyone is OK with that. It\u2019s who he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy listening to him talk,\u201d said president of baseball operations Buster Posey, who hired Vitello out of the University of Tennessee. \u201cHe\u2019s usually good for four or five good one-liners through his rambles, and he\u2019ll mix in some comedy. When he\u2019s talking, even if he thinks it\u2019s a ramble, you\u2019re kind of hanging on the words that he\u2019s saying.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of the energy and passion that drew Posey to Vitello, who\u2019s known as a communicator, motivator, and even an instigator and was brought in to move the Giants past their .500-ish mediocrity and into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Rambling or not, Vitello\u2019s speech before the first pitchers and catchers workout hit home. Inside the Giants\u2019 clubhouse at Scottsdale Stadium, Vitello introduced himself, shared his experience working with pitchers, and offered thoughts on building a winning culture and aggressively attacking opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could tell there\u2019s a lot of competitive spirit in him. He just wants to win,\u201d ace Logan Webb said. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty much what his message was. He wants us to all feel the way he feels, and I think it\u2019s a great message.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan Walker, the leading candidate to assume the closer\u2019s role, said, \u201cThe message was, when you put on the uniform, you\u2019re like Superman.\u00a0You go out with that mentality, and it\u2019s, \u2018All right, I\u2019ve got the uniform on. I\u2019m ready to go out and attack hitters.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

New pitching coaches Justin Meccage and Christian Wonders said a few words to the group, and infield coach Ron Washington \u2014 who\u2019ll help pitchers improve their glove work, not just position players \u2014 chimed in too.<\/p>\n

Today<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

3 days ago<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

6 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Vitello, who often shows signs of humbleness, came away from the speech saying, \u201cAt least everyone hopefully knows my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the speech ended, it was time to meet the press. Scribes covering the Giants who recalled the lateness of Gabe Kapler and promptness of Bob Melvin wondered how Vitello would compare. His first media session was scheduled for 9 a.m., and he was 18 minutes late.<\/p>\n

Good reason, though: The speech went long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI rambled a little bit. I have a tendency to do that,\u201d Vitello said.<\/p>\n

Facing a throng of cameras, microphones, and notepads in the first-base dugout, Vitello was asked about the bullpen makeup (\u201cit\u2019s pretty wide open\u201d), Bryce Eldridge\u2019s chances of making the opening-day roster (\u201cI think he\u2019s just got to mature as a player; he\u2019s incredibly mature as a kid\u201d), and whether newcomer Luis Arr\u00e1ez could lead off (\u201cI think so; I mean, he\u2019s comfortable with it. I like debates\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s one-year, $12 million contract was made official Tuesday, and he took the roster spot of Randy Rodriguez, who was placed on the 60-day injured list to recover from Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n

Vitello\u2019s answers weren\u2019t exactly definitive, which was predictable on Day One for a first-year manager with no experience in pro ball. More will be known as camp progresses, and he\u2019ll get more comfortable as he builds relationships with his players and coaches.<\/p>\n

Say this for Vitello. He has personality. He can be entertaining. He can spin a yarn. He can go off topic at any moment. At one point during the briefing, he called Arizona the \u201cWaymo capital of the world, which I think is kind of creepy\u201d and admitted he has never stepped inside a driverless car. He said hanging with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan in a suite at the Super Bowl was \u201ca goal and the best part. If it was a really good game, I would\u2019ve missed a lot. Fortunately, it wasn\u2019t a good game. I did see the streaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Vitello talk about college ball and Knoxville and the Vols and the SEC too much? Probably. That will wear off, undoubtedly, but it was pretty much all he knew until the Giants called, so he gets a pass for now. Eventually, the only focus will need to be winning games in the big leagues and preparing his players for the next big moment.<\/p>\n

On that note, Vitello finished his briefing and ventured to the back fields. Wearing No. 23 on his bright-orange jersey \u2013 a new spring training look for the Giants \u2013 and grasping a clipboard with the day\u2019s schedule attached, Vitello oversaw his first official workout: pitchers throwing bullpen sessions, hitters taking batting practice, and Washington working his magic with Arr\u00e1ez, Willy Adames, and other infielders.<\/p>\n

Vitello didn\u2019t ramble. He mostly observed and took mental notes. A lot of decisions are coming. A lot of jobs are up for grabs. Nothing was settled on Day One, but it was an encouraging first step. Asked afterward how it went, Vitello smiled and said, \u201cI followed [bench coach Jayce] Tingler around and listened to Wash for some good soundbites. Good day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first impressions were good too.<\/p>\n

\u201cVitello\u2019s been amazing so far. We\u2019ve connected well, and he keeps bringing up the fact that I chose Alabama over Tennessee, but I think we\u2019ll move past that at some point,\u201d said Eldridge, who committed to the Crimson Tide out of high school before signing with the Giants as a first-round draft pick. \u201cHe naturally connects with players, and it took one day for me to feel like, \u2018Wow, OK, this is my guy.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unprecedented territory for someone to step off a college campus and right away transition into a successful big-league manager. Not everyone in the clubhouse played in college, so not everyone fully grasps Vitello\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9. Third baseman Matt Chapman, of Cal State Fullerton fame, gets it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a learning curve in some areas,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cYou can\u2019t fully know how to run a major-league clubhouse unless you\u2019ve been in one, but I think it\u2019s not something foreign to him. He\u2019s a baseball guy. He\u2019s done things at a high level. So I think the transition will be smooth. Maybe there weren\u2019t as many Spanish speakers at Tennessee and things like that, but we\u2019ve got a lot of good guys in this room, and I don\u2019t see any problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ditto for Posey, who shared an anecdote from the time a large Giants contingent went to South Korea to visit Jung Hoo Lee and promote the team\u2019s brand. During a clinic for high school kids, Posey noticed Vitello transforming from bystander to a leader commanding everyone\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just saw a switch come on,\u201d Posey said. \u201cI saw it today in the meeting when he was addressing the pitchers and catchers. What I\u2019ve learned about him is that he\u2019s really good about turning that switch on when he needs to. He carries himself very confidently. He talked a lot about mentality and mindset, which I\u2019m a big believer in. It\u2019s hard to glean too much from the first day of pitchers and catchers, but we\u2019re off to a good start.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,6595,162,4,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-565153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-giants","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-buster-posey","10":"tag-giants","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-giants","14":"tag-sanfrancisco","15":"tag-sanfranciscogiants","16":"tag-sf","17":"tag-sf-giants","18":"tag-sfgiants","19":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}