Tony Vitello's puzzling pinch-hit decisions make SF Giants fans scratch their heads

The SF Giants lost to the Washington Nationals on Sunday 3-0. It was a bit of a let-down performance after a gutsy 12-inning victory the day before, but manager Tony Vitello made a couple of questionable decisions late in the game with pinch hitters.

In the top of the eighth inning it looked like the Giants finally had something cooking. Matt Chapman reached base on an error and then Rafael Devers singled. Casey Schmitt, who has been the hottest hitter on the team, grounded into a double play which brought up Jung Hoo Lee's spot in the order.

Vitello decided to pinch hit for Lee with Jerar Encarnacion. It was a bit of an odd decision as Lee has been swinging one of the hottest bats on the team as of late, slashing .321/.367/.393 in his last seven games. Encarnacion struck out swinging to end the inning. Some fans were left scratching their heads.

Vitello's pinch hit decisions lack consistency for SF Giants

Vitello was clearly trying to play the matchups with left-handed pitcher Andrew Alvarez on the mound, but it did not work. That's probably a scenario in which Vitello should go with the hot hand in Lee, although if Lee had recorded an out there surely would have been some complaining that he didn't use a pinch hitter. Plus, Lee did strike out when he faced Alvarez in the prior at-bat.

Then, in the top of the ninth after Heliot Ramos hit a double to start things off, Drew Gilbert came to the plate. Glbert has been swinging a hot bat as well, but Vitello had Christian Koss on the bench who may have provided a better matchup against Alvarez. Gilbert popped up for an out on the first pitch and the game was over two batters later.

It's obviously easy to second guess these decisions, but the strange this is that there was seemingly no consistency to them. If he had let both Lee and Gilbert hit, he could argue that he was riding the hot hand in both cases. Had he pinch hit both times then he could argue he was trying to play the matchups.

Maybe he didn't pinch hit for Gilbert as a reaction to pinch hitting for Lee not working out, but no matter what it's a little bit of a head scratcher. It's not as if the Giants would have been hampered in the outfield by pinch hitting for Gilbert, either. Vitello had Will Brennan on the bench as a defensive replacement and he is a more than capable center fielder so it's just a bit odd all around.

Vitello is still trying to figure things out though and any manager would struggle with how to best deploy San Francisco's limited bench. He's also taken some heat for not incorporating bench players into the lineup more often. Maybe he can learn from how things went down on Sunday and apply those lessons going forward.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow