SF Giants miss chance to transform pitching staff after Yankees retain analytics guru

San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said there was a chance the team could have coaching changes after the regular season, and Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic just reported that there will be some minor changes when it comes to the team's pitching coaches as Frank Anderson, who was "Director of Major League Pitching in 2026" and was manager Tony Vitello's pitching coach at the University of Tennessee, will be an assistant pitching coach to Justin Meccage who remains as pitching coach. Christian Wonder, who was assistant pitching coach in 2026, will now occupy a role more involved with the farm system. Jesse Chavez will also return as bullpen coach.

Shaking up the pitching coaches a bit is not be a bad idea but if they had any plans to add a new voice into the mix, one option is already off the board as the New York Yankees reportedly signed pitching coach Matt Blake to a contract extension.

Blake’s contract was set to expire after the season and he seemed like a potential candidate who could rejuvenate San Francisco’s pitching staff. Yet, the Yankees reportedly decided to sign him to a three-year extension so that ship has sailed.

Blake brings an analytics background to the role and during his tenure as pitching coach New York has had one of the better pitching staffs in MLB. Obviously a big part of that has to do with the talent assembled on the roster, but Blake deserves credit as well. 

It’s worth noting the fact that Yankees hitters, including superstar Aaron Judge, have seemingly not been as receptive to analytics whereas on the pitching staff they’ve been much more open to Blake’s analytical approach and the results speak for themselves.

Blake came from the Cleveland Guardians organization and that team has gained a reputation for being a “pitching factory” that gets the most out of its arms. That’s why the Giants might be wise to try to poach someone from that coaching staff like Brad Goldberg who is an assistant pitching coach right now but if the Giants offered him some sort of promotion maybe that would entice him to leave.

Giants' coaching staff doesn't deserve all the blame, but something needs to change

It may feel unfair to be too hard on San Francisco’s coaching staff when the talent on the field was so obviously lacking, but seeing Tyler Mahle thrive after being traded to the Atlanta Braves and Erik Miller look dominant initially with the Boston Red Sox were both red flags.

Implementing a different approach seems like a good idea but per Baggarly it seems the Giants will be more focused on changes in approach rather than changing the members of the coaching staff. Maybe they think their current staff should be given an opportunity to grow and learn in year two, but if the pitching staff struggles again then they’ll look foolish for not making more significant changes.

Blake is off the board but the Giants should still be alert and see if there are any other coaches who could potentially be poached because running it back with the same coaching staff just does not seem like the wisest idea. 

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