Tony Vitello gives a peek behind the curtain on SF Giants bullpen strategy

Tony Vitello had his work cut out for him with the SF Giants bullpen coming into this season. With so much uncertainty surrounding the team’s relievers and the fact that Vitello has never managed a big league bullpen before, there was cause for concern. So far, there have been mixed results and Vitello gave a brief glimpse behind the curtain of how he and his staff try to manage the bullpen.

After Wednesday’s win against the Philadelphia Phillies in which the bullpen was phenomenal, Vitello spoke to reporters after the game and talked about how he decides who will be used in certain situations by referencing a clipboard he consults. This quote comes from a recent article by Andrew Baggarly in The Athletic.

“Then you’ve got this — well, you can’t see it, maybe I shouldn’t show it — you got all these boxes and data and I can show you guys what it says, and we’re definitely using it, but we’re not leaning on it. It’s not the only thing we use. Sometimes it can be a tiebreaker. Sometimes it’s such a loud number that you do invest in the analytical side. And the rest is just who you think the best guy is down there.”

SF Giants manager Tony vitello has balanced approach on bullpen strategy

That seems like a pretty fair strategy even with the added flourish if Vitello offering to show something like that to reporters. It’s not what some fans might mythologize as the old school way of doing things in which they suppose managers went entirely off their gut rather than numbers. It’s also not a script that Buster Posey and Zack Minasian force him to stick to no matter what.

It seems like there’s room for flexibility and Vitello has the authority to roll with someone who has looked good like he did on Wednesday by using Caleb Kilian to face Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. That decision looks pretty terrible on paper, but it worked out to great effect.

There have also been miscues. Using Ryan Borucki in a high-leverage spot in the first game of the series looks like a pretty bad decision in retrospect. But there will be some good and some bad with the bullpen this year which is inevitable. 

Vitello’s hands are somewhat tied due to the talent at his disposal so there are probably going to be some blown leads and some tough questions to answer whenever moves backfire. 

But it’s good to know that Vitello has the ability to learn and grow and make mistakes rather than having to adhere to a strict set of rules laid down by the front office.