Tony Vitello compares Giants ace Logan Webb to franchise great Madison Bumgarner
Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks with the media after San Francisco's 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Oracle Park.
Tony Vitello compares Giants ace Logan Webb to franchise great Madison Bumgarner originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
So what was your thought process as you're going out to Logan in the, in the top of the eighth inning?
Are you thinking you're gonna go to the bullpen, or are you allowing yourself to be convinced to keep him in the game?
Why did you decide to keep him in the game?
Yeah, I mean, I've, I've never, you know, never gone out without either the intention of moving on to the next guy or at least have a conversation.
I, I wouldn't have tried to give him any pitching tips or anything like that.
That would've been messed, going out.
So, no, just walking out was to meet him at the mound, give a timeout, if anything, but then also check and see where he's at.
The ball was coming out good out of his hand.
Obviously, y- you kinda watch the pitch count, and we're further along in that whole deal with the, with the IL stint, but just to see what he wants.
You maybe didn't get the full Webby experience your first month or two here.
What have you made of what he's been able to do over his last four or five starts now, it seems to be?
it's been on par with guys like Madison Bumgardner and others in this organization, is the easiest way to, to give him as high a praise as possible.
But, it's, it's been fun more than anything.
I mean, I You could throw out a lot of different adjectives or describe, how talented he is and how good of a competitor he is, but he makes it fun, you know, while the game's going on.
And even if it doesn't go well with a hitter, he kinda makes it fun to see, okay, how's he gonna respond?
'Cause I think one of the areas where he might be a little undervalued, unless you're kind of in tune to it, is just how dang good he is.
When something goes wrong, he gets better.
And, a lot of guys can, you know, kinda go backwards just 'cause you get frustrated or, you know, adversity gets the wheels spinning a little quicker.
And in the fifth, the bottom of the lineup kind of gets things started then, and Chapman, who as you put in the leadoff hole, comes up and, and gets the job done.
Is that a good feeling when you make that lineup change, and you kinda turn the lineup over, and you have Chapman in the leadoff spot?
yeah.
I mean, it's just I- it's been a consistent thing for us.
I mean, Buster and I were talking back there.
If, if we can get to four runs, you know, I think five is probably kinda more across the board in the league.
A, a number that, that you would not target as an offense.
Nice score, 10.
But a reasonable number or average number.
But for us, if we can just get to four, and a lot of those days where we've done that, it's been seven, eight, nine, either getting on base, or driving the ball.
And, you know, Jung, who's gonna compete for a batting title this year and probably other years, so to have him down there is kinda interesting.
y- you know, but it benefited us with his ability to hit.
And then those other two guys, Susak and Gilbert, have a pretty good on-base percentage, especially when they're facing the opposite handed guys.
So Chappy had a good day for us.
Tony, get back to Logan real quick.
You said before the game that if it came down to a decision, you were gonna let him do it.
did you tell him that before the game, or was this just something you were gonna deal with yourself?
No, I mean, it's kinda been different, dating back to when he first came back.
I mean, the first words I said to him in Colorado was, "Following doctor's orders."
And I think at that point, we let him go five, six pitches past, what he was supposed to do.
But in the dugout, he said he was feeling good.
it's pretty fluid.
I mean, we I- it's not like we're best buds, but, you know, we text often, talk often in the dugout, talk often in the locker room.
So everything's pretty fluid.
I mean, we've talked before, too, earlier in the year on, any kind of body language from him where he feels like it would benefit the team.
You know, he's gassed out, especially ear- in the early in the year when he's building pitch counts.
So, it's rather apparent now that a lot's been made of the other night's game.
But for the most part, I feel like me and him are on the same page about as, as good as you can get.
Tony, Bryce had that 0-2 count, and he works into a walk.
just what are you serious- what are you what's impressing you the most, I guess, about his just the plate vision, the plate discip- d- plate discipline that Bryce has been showing?
Yeah.
It's a repetitive answer for me, but I think it's a good one, is the calm.
you know, in college, a lot of freshmen are talented.
That's, why they got recruited to big school, but you see them a little jumpy.
And then you see them a couple years later, and they have that calm about them.
Bregman, when he was in college, there was it was never jumpy.
It was a professional, calm approach in the box.
And I would say there's a parallel going on with Bryce.
obviously drafted for a lot of different reasons, but I think, maturity is what I said on the TV broadcast for a reason, and that maturity is kinda bleeding into the at-bats, being pro at-bats and, and just having a sense of calm about him.
So if, if you're calm in the ba- I mean, it, it's kinda basic math.
If you're calm in the box, you know, you're actually buying yourself more time to see the baseball.
And I'm not that big into the phrase swing decisions, but it whether you're gonna swing at a pitch or not, it buys you more time approaching it the way that he is.
What can you say about the catch that Jung made to end the eighth?
Like, do you think he had it all the way?
No, but I mean, I've, I've got confidence in that guy.
you know, I know what Webby thought of it.
He told him he loved him.
My, my response was, "Why didn't you come to Korea with us then?"
he was originally going to, but he had something come up.
So, it was a fun moment because, the electricity in the crowd, with Webby taking the ball and, you know, Willie basically, you know, ready to grab me by the jersey s- saying, you know, "Let this guy do his thing," and Jung having his back.
no matter how that play goes, it's a phenomenal outing, for Webby.
But Jungy kinda put a, an exclamation point on it and really put an exclamation point on his day.
the hit streak stuff obviously has value, but, I mean, the biggest thing you'd like to do is win.
Those things are, are kinda extra.
But I know Jung had some hard contacts the last couple days.
Got Didn't have a lot of at-bats the last couple days.
and, and so came out and, kinda like Webby, turned that into extra motivation, it seemed like, to have a great day today, and he was a huge difference maker.
When you look at the trip you have coming up, going to Atlanta is hard.
How much does today's win give you a b- a confidence bounce heading into this trip?
Yeah, I mean, I don't know if salvage is the best word, but, you know, you gotta get something out of the, out of the series, for sure.
and I, I really do feel like, just with thoughts and conversations and by nature of reps, we're getting better at, how to manage the game late in the game.
we do that, we got a .500 home stand and, and we're playing really good ball.
unfortunately, a couple things go wrong, and, and you, you can't say that, and, and there's a little bit of a blip on the radar screen.
But I, I think the biggest thing to take away from the last six games is can come back in any situation if you did it that way.
and then also just to show, you know, what we can do when Webby's in, in full mode today, so.
What are you seeing with, Matt Chapman, runners in scoring position?
He's one of the better offensive players in baseball in, in that situation.
Yeah, I think, you know, he's, he's got experience.
I mean, he's a similar guy, too.
I think maturity probably came at an earlier age for him than, than some.
But now he's got all this years of, years of experience and kinda knows what the pitcher's doing, and, he's pretty fun to stand next to during the game.
I mean, he can't predict the future, but he, he can give you a pretty good educated guess on what's gonna happen or what's coming or what this guy's gonna do.
And so he's able to probably do that for himself in the box, too, and not gonna get it done every single time, but, I think in general, whether it's runners in scoring position or not, he's just really taking some clean swings.
And, sometimes it takes two to tango.
pitcher makes a mistake, he's in a good position to punish him now.
