How will Vitello fill out his coaching staff?

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

New Giants manager Tony Vitello has acknowledged that he’ll have some blind spots as he begins navigating his historic path from the University of Tennessee to the Majors. The key for him now will be finding the right people to help buttress him against those unknowns.

One of Vitello’s first priorities will be to finalize his coaching staff, which could feature a mix of new and familiar faces. Vitello, 47, will surely want to handpick some of his lieutenants, but the Giants are also likely to retain several coaches who worked under previous manager Bob Melvin.

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“It could be a variety of things,” Vitello said during his introductory press conference at Oracle Park last week. “It could be keeping those that are on board and obviously know the players well already. Bringing somebody in, covering blind spots, complementing one another. But my biggest thing is just for everybody to be on the same page. Pulling on the same rope is a cliché for a reason. We talked about how long the season is, so it’s important to have a group of guys that are willing to be there through thick and thin. It literally is a marriage for the course of the season.

“To me, it doesn’t have to be the brightest, the best, the most experienced or the best résumé. It needs to be the guy that's going to have your back. He’s also going to have to take the leap of faith or know that I or whoever else has their back, and then you kind of get this reciprocal thing.”

Former Giants bench coach Ryan Christenson rejoined the A’s as a first-base coach on Wednesday, and franchise great Matt Williams isn’t expected to return as San Francisco’s third-base coach, leaving at least two spots for Vitello to fill on his coaching staff this offseason.

Hiring an experienced bench coach will likely be crucial for Vitello, who has never played or coached in the big leagues and will need to learn to adjust to the grind of a 162-game season. Former Padres manager Jayce Tingler could be in line to step into that role, as he’s agreed to join Vitello’s staff in some capacity, according to a report from The Athletic on Wednesday.

Tingler, 44, was Vitello’s college teammate at the University of Missouri and spent the last four seasons serving as the Twins’ bench coach, but he wasn’t expected to stay in Minnesota after the club brought in Derek Shelton to replace former manager Rocco Baldelli.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey had expressed interest in trying to reunite with former Giants first-base coach Antoan Richardson, who parted ways with the Mets due to a salary impasse. But the highly regarded baserunning and outfield instructor ended up finding a landing spot with the Braves on Wednesday. The Giants could still use a coach with Richardson’s skill set, as they ranked near the bottom of the league in both stolen bases and outfield defense this year.

While Vitello emerged as a star recruiter at Tennessee over the past eight years, he has virtually no experience dealing with international players, particularly those from Latin America. Having a few Spanish-speakers on his coaching staff who can help bridge language barriers with players will be vital, which could work in the favor of pitching coach J.P. Martinez and assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard, both of whom are bilingual.

“I think who makes up the staff is really key,” Vitello said when asked how he plans to connect with Latin American players. “I think also, just making an effort, which involves work ethic, to meet that challenge in particular head-on. Because regardless of people’s backgrounds, when you’re in a work environment, you need to get to know who people are and you need to build relationships. You also want to build a trust level there that they’re willing to come to you with certain things.”