Giants' Tony Vitello shares Matt Chapman in ‘lighthearted' mood after surgery
Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks to reporters ahead of San Francisco's matchup against the Houston Astros on Tuesday at Oracle Park.
Giants' Tony Vitello shares Matt Chapman in 'lighthearted' mood after surgery originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Know him, which you all do.
He's, he's pretty quick to get comfortable in a social setting, and, I think is good to have around.
Good vibes is the easiest way to talk about it.
But also just having experience for what lies ahead.
Cavanaugh ask- asking to be carry, carrying, a lot of the action or brunt of the action as we go forward.
It'd be good for him to have him to lean on.
Do you have any more clarity on, Susack's prognosis or A little bit.
I mean, it's a, you know, pretty distinct fracture.
Any time all these guys have representation, a lot of them wanna just make sure they're doing their due diligence and have a second opinion or a second look at it and be sure what's going on.
But I think regardless of how, another doctor reads things, I don't think anything can be done for the next few weeks.
I think it's a little bit of wait and see how things heal up and then determine a plan going forward.
Would you imagine his season's over given kind of the severity of the injury?
Yeah, I think so for his position.
If you, if you combo those two up.
You hate to guess or predict inaccurately, but I think with those two things combined, the nature of the injury and his position combined, it, it's more than likely.
Seems like Barracotto's in a position to get some pretty significant runway here for the rest of the season.
Just we've seen a little bit of what he can do.
Just how do you kind of hope he takes this opportunity and kind of runs with it?
Just to be himself really.
If you look at spring training and you look at his sample size with us, and you can include Susack too, he's been one of the better hitters in, in all those groups.
And that won't always equate to results or outcome but definitely just his presence and his approach in the box and the quality of that bat you get.
I feel like the last time up, the more he was able to just play consistently and the more at bats he got, really the better he hit.
I don't know if it's a direct correlation, the better he played defensively.
It's probably tied in more to just playing consistently.
I mean, you get in and out of there sporadically and you haven't played in an exact position or played in that park.
This one in particular with outfield defense, it's always challenging.
And I don't think he did anything detrimental.
I think it was just obvious as some games came on, he made some really nice plays, in particular in left field.
So, it's good to see where he Good if he can pick up where he left off.
Obviously, Leonard's time here was very brief- Yeah but a nice little story when he came up and obviously a really kind of a positive personality.
What did you think of Yeah, frustrating story, conclusion, but a, a really exciting beginning and we tried to balance that out in our conversation.
And, obviously he's got to forge ahead and, and hope to lean on this a little bit.
At least now he can say, you know, he was able to do some things.
He knows what it looks like.
He knows he can fit in.
So hopefully a confidence builder and a stepping stone for him in the future.
But, you know, I said probably a little too dramatically at one point this year, life's kind of about moments, and I think a couple of those moments, he'll remember with a big smile on his face, and he's got a good smile.
The starter for tomorrow?
We'll see.
I mean, Hauser's lined up to, to throw a good chunk of innings.
We'll see, see how tonight goes as far as availability of guys and things like that.
But, it's, it's a little bit cut and dry with that part of it.
Did Chapman's surgery, did he g- go okay?
Yeah, had surgery.
Lighthearted mood.
It went very well.
Feels good.
On his way back home tomorrow.
So an end of a, kind of confusing period, but probably m- just more frustrating and a lot of waiting and seeing and resting and, and so now, all that's behind him and he can move forward.
I'm sure it'll be good to get home to his family.
Be good to see him too.
They said, core muscle repair yesterday.
Was it Do you know if there was anything extra different than what they- Yeah, I don't know if there was anything specific with, you know, hernia stuff or anything.
But they, they kinda kept it general in the report and none of that came up with he and I's talks or Gresch either.
Hey, Tony, what have, what have you learned about your catching situation post-David?
I mean, a broken record, but I just feel like, those three young guys are, are really exciting.
You know, we talked about, I think you were here, it's fun to have a familiar face now.
I, I, I got a little separate history there.
And of course saw Andrew in spring training too.
And then he combos that up with his familiarity here.
So that part will be a fun kind of injection into things, but I still kind of lean on the fact I had a lot of fun following those guys' progress on videos.
We've done a couple meetings back there with catchers, and I just think Jesus and Cavanaugh and Susack are guys who can be in the big leagues for a long time and be guys who are really versatile.
Not just good with the glove, but able to throw real well, not just good on defense, but can give you good at bats and, and probably a decent amount of production too.
And then the leadership stuff kind of starting to formulate a little bit.
It's not easy to ask a guy who comes from Susack's background of just trying to make any kind of roster, the roster, get any kind of action, and then go out there and kind of dictate what Robbie Ray or, or Webby are doing during an outing.
But you started to see all three of those guys start to get comfortable in that.
So, kind of it's the hardest position to find guys you trust.
It's the hardest position to play day in and day out as we've seen with wear and tear.
But those three guys have to make up for that, and I think it kind of starts with that.
I think Busters was as good as anybody.
And then you gotta have some ability too.
I think those guys aren't short in any area you need a guy to be good at.
You, you, you, you spoke in the past about in college you had multiple catchers, maybe not a one, but would it be advantageous to have a one at this level?
Would Susack be that guy, or do you think he'll mix and match?
Yeah, I mean, I think, um- maybe not in the next week, but in the next year.
Again, I, I think the stale answer is, it's easier on everybody to come to the park and kind of know exactly where everybody fits in, what your role is, what a routine's gonna be.
Maybe a catcher's on a certain pitcher every time.
But just off the cuff, I don't have any qualms with having a good rotation in there.
If guys are giving you good at bats and you can balance out left to right a little bit, maybe a pitcher favors a catcher a little bit, I don't see any harm in, in balance.
Yeah, I think the, the biggest thing is just racking up experience.
The biggest You talk about college, the one crazy difference that really stands out is in college you have the quarterback headset.
You can talk to the guy during the game, which is a huge advantage.
And the pitch clock is quicker, the game is quicker, the decisions are quicker.
So the more experience those kids can rack up, I think the better they'll be.
But I think all that stuff will get sorted out as time goes on.
Who's, who's one, who's two, who's three, what's what?
