3 candidates for SF Giants bench coach to balance Tony Vitello's inexperience

The SF Giants have officially hired Tony Vitello to be their next manager. Vitello comes straight from the University of Tennessee and brings no experience in professional baseball with him which is why it will be important for the team to hire an experienced bench coach.

It remains to be seen how Vitello’s collegiate style and energy will translate to MLB. His fiery demeanor may be tough to sustain over the course of a 162-game season and his inexperience may need to be balanced out by a coaching staff with people who have been in a big league dugout before.

Let’s take a look at three potential bench coaches who could balance Vitello out in the dugout:

3 candidates for SF Giants bench coach to balance Tony Vitello's inexperience

Jayce Tingler

Former San Diego Padres manager Jayce Tingler would make a lot of sense as Vitello’s bench coach. Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic threw Tingler’s name out there as a potential option because Tingler and Vitello have a history together.

Tingler only had two seasons as the skipper of the Padres, and really less than two considering the first season was the 2020 season which was shortened to 60 games. He was fired after 2021 and had a record of 116-106 over those two seasons. 

Ironically, he was replaced by Bob Melvin so if the Giants did hire him as bench coach they would be bringing in a guy the Padres thought was worse than Melvin. 

Tingler spent the last few seasons as the bench coach of the Minnesota Twins, but after Rocko Baldelli was fired Tingler may be looking for a new job and being Vitello’s right-hand man would make sense. 

Brandon Hyde 

As the former AL Manager of the Year in 2023 with the Baltimore Orioles, Brandon Hyde brings with him over six seasons of experience as a big-league manager. 

His managerial win-loss record is 421-493 and he got fired by Baltimore in 2025 after a rough 15-28 start to the season. 

He is a Santa Rosa native though and president of baseball operations Buster Posey has reportedly had discussions with him about some sort of role so it could be a good fit.

Ron Wotus

If there is any sort of trepidation from some members of the clubhouse or some members of the fanbase over Vitello’s inexperience and unique style, bringing back Ron Wotus as bench coach would do a lot to calm people down.

He was a coach with the Giants from 1998 to 2021 and served as a bench coach across multiple managers. That sort of longevity is very impressive and there are not many names who command such instant respect amongst Giants fans.

We will see what Vitello’s coaching staff looks like, but adding some experienced coaches into the mix will be important so do not be surprised if one of these names ends up being the next bench coach.