The SF Giants still have not finalized their coaching staff

The SF Giants have reportedly made a number of additions to their coaching staff. However, no announcement had been made to finalize Tony Vitello’s group.

The SF Giants still have not finalized their coaching staff

Last week, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area shared that specific roles were still being discussed, so no announcement was imminent.

The latest reported hires include a pair of internal promotions. Shane Robinson and Hector Borg have been promoted up the major league staff in an unknown capacity, per Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle.

Robinson had served as an outfielder and baserunning coordinator. On the other hand, Borg had a brief pro career in the Giants farm system in the 2000’s. More recently, he has served as a coordinator for Giants prospects in Latin America. 

The rest of the coaching staff is mostly known, even if it has not come through a team announcement. It is just a little odd that it has taken so long to round out that unit.

When the Giants parted ways with Bob Melvin, Buster Posey said he wanted a manager that was obsessive about the details. The coaching staff is an extension of the manager, and while Posey publicly praised the work that Melvin did, there is a critique here if you read between the lines. 

There were basic fundamental gaffes, especially in terms of baserunning and outfield defense, that seemingly never showed improvement during Melvin’s stint as manager. The manager cannot go into the batter’s box and make the hitter swing the bat, but poor fundamentals are often a reflection of the manager and his coaching staff.

In a lot of ways, the competence of the coaching staff will play a large role in Tony Vitello’s success or lack thereof in San Francisco.

For what it is worth, Vitello has hired several coaches with diverse backgrounds in baseball. Importantly, he has brought in voices from outside of the organization. I think some of the Giants’ struggles in recent years has been due to relying too much on voices from within the organization and not seeking enough feedback externally. Vitello is an external voice.

The coaching staff is headlined by former San Diego Padres manager Jayce Tingler and infield guru Ron Washington. Tingler's exact role is not yet known, but will he will likely be a bench coach or associate manager. Former big league reliever Jesse Chavez will serve as the team's new bullpen coach in his first role since retiring. Some roles are still to be determined.