Tony Vitello may struggle to find a bullpen role for recent SF Giants signing

On Saturday, Ryan Borucki breezed through two at-bats against left-handed hitters. The new SF Giants reliever has generally been effective in these matchups, but has struggled badly against right-handed hitters, which poses an obstacle for Tony Vitello's bullpen management.

Tony Vitello may struggle to find a bullpen role for recent SF Giants signing

The third batter that Borucki faced was Aaron Judge. He threw a 90 MPH cutter that caught too much of the zone, and Judge did what he does best. He blasted it to left field to give the New York Yankees a 3-1 advantage.

The Giants have only scored four runs in four games in 2026. That 3-1 advantage seemed insurmountable. The Giants did not lose the game because of Borucki, but the home run he allowed did not help. The offense needs to do its job as well.

Matchups against right-handed hitters have been an issue for Borucki throughout his career. Overall, the southpaw pitcher has allowed an .848 OPS in these matchups. Over the past five years, he has allowed a .923 OPS against right-handed hitters, compared to a .464 OPS against left-handed hitters.

That is a sharp contrast between effectiveness and futility depending on the matchup. This is a skill set that would have had value before the three-batter minimum rule was implemented. It could still have value if Borucki shows better splits against right-handed hitters.

Going back to that Judge at-bat. Borucki got the first two outs with ease. He had a pair of left-handed bats in Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice following Judge. The call should have come from either Tony Vitello or Patrick Bailey to not throw a pitch anywhere near the strike zone.

In fairness, Borucki has to be cognizant of the situation as well. He struggles to get right-handed hitters out, and Judge is one of the best in baseball history. There was no reason to throw a strike in that situation. The better outcome would have been throwing out of the zone, and hoping that Judge chases and gets himself out. In that scenario, the worst outcome is that he walks with two outs.

This is one of those in-game management maneuvers that managers can learn. No manager is going to pull all the right string from his first day on the job. Was it a call that should have come from Vitello to walk Judge? Absolutely.

That said, this is a roster issue as much as it is an in-game management issue. The Giants have a reliever who thrives against lefties but is unplayable against righties. That is just a tough role to use in today's game. Situational relievers will still face a fair share of suboptimal matchups.

Borucki could end up being an effective reliever for San Francisco, but with his extreme splits, he has to be managed more than most bullpen arms. That is a challenge that Vitello will need to work through.