Vitello brings his vibe to Giants' first official workout

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- New Giants manager Tony Vitello is used to being on the move.

He was a fixture on the recruiting trail during his days as a college baseball coach, and he continued his peripatetic ways when he made an unprecedented leap from the University of Tennessee to the Majors in October.

He spent a good chunk of the offseason traveling around the world to meet with his new players, flying to the Dominican Republic to visit Willy Adames and Rafael Devers before heading to South Korea to connect with Jung Hoo Lee.

For the next six weeks, though, he will finally have a chance to settle in -- into Scottsdale, into his new job and into life in the big leagues.

“What I've been looking forward to is the sense of relief of no more planes for me for a while,” Vitello said. “This was my favorite time of year in my past job. Being in one spot, recruiting was off the table. The only thing that matters is your team. Get close to them, get them prepared.”

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That process began on Tuesday, when Giants pitchers and catchers gathered for their first official workout of the spring at Scottsdale Stadium. Before taking the field, Vitello held a team meeting with players and coaches to lay out expectations and start setting the tone for the weeks to come.

“Hopefully it didn't sound like a speech, more of a conversation,” Vitello said. “But it’s a much bigger group than you're used to, from my level. But I think the guys are excited, as they should be on Day 1. Everyone was locked in. Just kind of more introductory stuff. It's a little different when you don't have the recruiting background as far as relationships go. By now there's been a text message at a minimum with everybody. But I just wanted to let everyone know where I was coming from.

“I rambled today, so the guys might ban me for any more meetings before this thing is over, but you want to set a vibe for what you want your team to be.”

The vibes seem to be good so far.

“I thought it was great,” right-hander Logan Webb said of Vitello’s speech. “A lot of energy. You can tell there’s a lot of competitive spirit in him. He just wants to win. That’s pretty much what his message was. He wants us to all feel the way he feels. I think it’s a great message.”

The Giants took a risk in hiring the 47-year-old Vitello, who has yet to manage a game at the big league level, but they felt compelled to think outside the box after fizzling to an 81-81 finish in 2025 and missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year. Vitello will face a host of new challenges in San Francisco, but the Giants are confident he’ll be able to carry over the success he enjoyed at Tennessee, which he transformed into a national powerhouse over the last eight years.

“I think the college game is probably a lot closer to professional baseball than it was when I was playing in it,” third baseman Matt Chapman said. “At the end of the day, winning baseball is winning baseball, and I think he understands how to win. Whether you’re playing at the highest level in college or Major Leagues or Minor Leagues, winning baseball looks the same. It’s pitching, defense, knowing how to run the bases and managing personalities and managing guys. I think he has a lot of experience doing that.

“There’s going to obviously be a learning curve in some areas. You just can’t fully know how to run a Major League clubhouse unless you’ve been in one, but I think it’s not something foreign to him. He’s a baseball guy. He’s done things at a high level, always. I think the transition will be smooth.”

Chapman had multiple conversations with Vitello throughout the offseason to give him “the lay of the land” and provide more insight on members of the roster. Vitello has pre-existing relationships with a handful of players, as he coached outfielder Drew Gilbert and right-hander Blade Tidwell at Tennessee and tried to recruit first baseman Bryce Eldridge out of high school a few years ago.

Eldridge ended up committing to Alabama, but he remained a big fan of Vitello and was thrilled to see him come to the Giants. That admiration has only grown now that Eldridge has gotten a chance to spend more time around Vitello.

“The first day I hit on the field after my rehab progression [from wrist surgery], I had a rough day off the machine,” Eldridge said. “I was getting a little frustrated. He just looked at me. He was like, ‘What are you doing, dude, it’s the first day hitting on the field.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ So it’s just stuff like that. He makes you take a step back and realize that we’re all human. I think it’s the way he naturally connects with players. It took one day for me to feel like, ‘Wow, OK, this is my guy. I can go talk to him about anything.’ It’s exciting.”