Giants to hire ex-World Series champion as bullpen coach

The San Francisco Giants have a huge hill to climb in the 2026 season. They showed some flashes in 2025, but they finished in third place in the National League West behind the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres.

The Giants are starting over in 2026 with new leadership. They hired college coach Tony Vitello to be their new manager, bringing him in from the University of Tennessee. Vitello is certainly untested at the Major League level, but general manager Buster Posey clearly believes in his ability to build a new culture and find a way to motivate this team in a way that former manager Bob Melvin was unable to do so.

The Giants have hired a veteran leader in Ron Washington to serve as infield coach and they have also brought in Jesse Chavez to serve as the team’s bullpen coach. Chavez is a respected former player who had experience with 9 Major League teams.

Chavez was a long reliever throughout most of his career and he made 657 appearances and had a 51-66 record with a 4.27 ERA. He played six seasons with the Atlanta Braves, and he also had a 4-year stint with the Oakland A’s. His other big-league associations were with the Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals and the Dodgers.

Giants are hoping that managerial change will deliver big results

The Giants finished the season with an 81-81 record. While the Giants should have some power in their lineup as they are led by former Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers, it is likely the pitching staff that will allow Vitello to get the most out of the team

Logan Webb is the team’s best starter, and he had a 15-11 record with a 3.22 earned run average while pitching a league-high 207.0 innings. He struck out 224 batters while walking 46.

The bullpen was especially effective in 2025, but trading Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval along with Tommy John surgery for Randy Rodriguez means that Chavez will have a lot of work to do in this area.

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