Landen Roupp showing up Tony Vitello is simply unacceptable for SF Giants

The SF Giants got embarrassed on Saturday as they lost to the Detroit Tigers 7-0. Just to make matters worse, starting pitcher Landen Roupp showed up manager Tony Vitello when he was removed from the game in the sixth inning.

On the broadcast, it was obvious that Roupp did not want to come out of the game even though he walked three consecutive batters. He seemed to be arguing behind his glove and was displeased in the dugout when one of the batters he walked came around to score.

After the game, Roupp said, “As a competitor I kinda wanna try to clean up my own mess.” That’s all well and good, but to show your manager up like that is just immature behavior from a guy who has not earned the right to act like that.

Roupp has a 4.22 ERA on the season. He’s had some success in the big leagues but nowhere near long enough to be acting like that when the manager takes him out of the game.

Logan Webb can get away with that because he’s a two-time All-Star, the ace of the team, and the leader of the clubhouse. Yet, we’ve never seen Webb show up a manager like that so maybe Roupp should take a page from Webb’s book going forward rather than Zack Littell's.

As for Vitello, he said the right things after the game. He said of Roupp, “Exact kind of guy you want to coach. You don't want people that want to come out of the game or want out when it gets tough or anything like that.”

Yes, you want guys who are competitive but not guys who are going to show up their manager when they don’t get their way. It’s borderline childish behavior and Roupp is lucky that his manager is willing to turn the other cheek and not let it turn into a bigger issue.

Maybe it’s because Vitello knows he doesn’t really have a lot of starting-caliber arms at his disposal right now. It’s not like he can bench Roupp or demote him or anything like that as the Giants are just going to have to roll with him the rest of the season.

Tony Vitello has taken the high road on incidents with Giants players

That’s been the way Vitello has operated this year. He said the same thing when Rafael Devers openly defied Vitello for using a pinch runner to take him out of the game. He probably feels as a rookie manager with no professional baseball experience prior to this year he can’t really go after his players and maybe that’s the right call. 

Still, it’s not right for Roupp to be behaving that way and if it’s not Vitello, it needs to be someone in that clubhouse, whether it’s Webb, Ron Washington, or somebody, who pulls him aside and tells him that’s not cool.

If you don’t want to get pulled from the game, maybe throw some strikes and quit walking guys which has been an issue for Roupp all year and is something he needs to clean up if he wants to remain in the rotation going forward.

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