Tony Vitello, Landen Roupp dissect Giants' extra-innings win vs. Pirates
Giants manager Tony Vitello and Landen Roupp speak to reporters after San Francisco's win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday at PNC Park.
Tony Vitello, Landen Roupp dissect Giants' extra-innings win vs. Pirates originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Were you thinking just regardless of how that inning went, Devers was not gonna see a pitch?
Yeah, I mean, we, we kinda were trying to predict the future, and it makes the most sense.
I mean, that's the play.
He ends up scoring, so But I don't, I don't think if you're over there you can regret that at all.
It's, you know, talked about it with you guys, and part of it is me.
Maybe you're trying to gain some grace, but there's plenty of times where you, you make a move you question later on, but it worked out, and then sometimes you make the right move and You know, you're, you're picking your poison, and the thing is Bryce is, you know, Ra- Rafi's pretty damn good.
But at the very least, Bryce is kind of at a maturity level where it's on par with, with Devers' approach.
So it worked out for us there.
And Basabe started it all with, you know He had a great mindset today, because, you know, you come to the park and there's a lot of pitches that were in last night's game.
But the last one could be the one you're lingering with, and for him to go out there and do the job against Ovall, which you guys know, that's kind of a tough look, started the whole thing.
You're missing a lot of guys that normally would hit behind Devers.
What, what does Bryce do in that spot, or what, what did you think about the way he handled that?
Yeah.
I, I mean, I don't think he tried to do too much, which was the big, big thing there.
You know, and then the way he's played, and again, the maturity level.
We got some pretty good names that are back home, but who's to say he's not there, you know, anyway if you're kind of a sorting guys in different spots.
So I just, you know, I brought up the maturity thing earlier because the big part ab- about the at bat was in that moment, it's kinda funny, we talked about it back here, about just kind of being calm.
Bryce is always gonna be intense.
Guys can- If you just have a guy on first with two outs, both guys can hit a double or a home run, you know, with the drop of a hat.
So it's, it's definitely a big advantage, for sure.
And Rafi's, since you guys don't get a ton of Rafi interviews, I'll do one right now for him.
He's, he's having fun.
I mean, I don't ever like to speak for anybody, but I guarantee right now he's having fun.
And these guys have such a burden on them in general, at this level.
But no one on our team has a bigger burden on his shoulders than him.
So to have fun, I think is, is bringing out the best in him.
Ra- How much do you feel like his first inning home run kinda set the tone for the night?
It did, because yesterday sucked.
There's no other I mean, I, I, I reviewed what we talked about out here, and I kind of didn't remember anything I had really said other than I forgot to say how well a couple guys played.
So to come back is similar to how we came back from loss.
We've had a couple losses.
We blew the one big lead and came back and won the next day.
We just didn't have that in our tool belt earlier this year, and the fact we do now makes it fun to come to the park.
But it, it set the tone and kinda said, "We're here," for our dugout, as opposed to, "Hey, we're still thinking about yesterday."
Rafi's obviously a s- very established.
Bryce is still gathering his bearings.
Do you allow yourself to think into the future a little bit and think as Bryce, you know, gets, you know, into his mid-20s and as he evolves, like what that tandem could really be?
I do.
Jesse compared him to another guy that's in the league, that, you know, at that age reminds him of him and it's, it's pretty high praise.
So, it's, it's hard to kinda put it on, on that level of, hey, he's 21 and, and things can go up for him.
But it's baseball, it's crazy.
You gotta come earn it every day, and you guys are out there.
You see he's relentless with the glove work.
He's working on the foot speed.
And then obviously his, his biggest craft is the hitting, and he, even though he might not always get the outcome, you see maturity on how he puts the helmet back in the helmet rack.
He's, he's making progress in a lot of areas.
So I don't see why he can't keep going up.
Can we just get to Trevor Story's night, just with the catch he made to end the bottom of the ninth?
The catch was a game saver.
You know, and then the big hit down the line after.
It's kinda hard.
Maybe it's easier for him, 'cause he's more confident than I was.
But to have the night he had last night, you come out with a little, you know I- if you treat it wrong mentally, you put unrealistic expectations on yourself.
So for him to do that, especially after a couple tough ABs, I think shows you the type of toughness he has.
He's, he's a killer.
I mean, him and Lau and, and, and Mangham and, and some other guys kinda do it a little more quiet than Gilbert does, but he's a killer.
Look okay?
Just wondering if the- Yeah on a hot night?
Yeah, he was g- he was, he was good there.
But yeah, he's, he's more than fine.
He, he kinda went to the point we would.
If anything, we were gonna go two more hitters, and we thought it was better just to go to a fresh arm.
Is Gilbert okay, too?
Yeah, a little bit of, a little bit of stiffness, so the concern was more on defense.
And then too, we kinda took a chance.
Cox has been, been Cox, and if he gets on first base, it, it's kind of a double.
So we thought they'd maybe go lefty in the, in the, in the final inning.
So took a little bit of a risk, but also played into he was good to hit, but we were probably gonna pinch run for him if he would've got on base somehow.
Little bit of soreness.
You and Otto got to?
I guess.
Um- How important was it for you to come out and have a, a clean one just after last night ended?
Yeah.
Yeah, super important.
You know, feel like I had a good plan going in, me and Cav, and kinda executed it well.
Just wanted to stay up in the zone today.
They were attacking everything low last night.
So, just tried to switch it up on them and ended up working out.
So, yeah.
It's obviously a very hot and humid night.
Were you feeling the ef- effects of that all on the mound, especially during that fourth inning?
Yeah.
You know, obviously we're not used to that, kind of weather, pitching in SF.
I don't, I don't know if there's any better weather to pitch in other than SF, so, but yeah, it was, it was, brutally hot, but just had to, you know, fight through it and, just compete.
Sorry, where would Singer that he clipped you on the foot, ankle, which part?
It was in the shin.
Yeah.
Kind of- That play into that fourth inning at all?
Not really, no.
It didn't really bother me other than give me flashbacks to last year a little bit.
I think it was around the same time, too.
Yeah.
Um- Better fly out.
Yeah.
No, it didn't, it didn't bother me at all.
Devers has been on kind of a heat recently.
Yeah.
Just, what's it been like to, to watch him work recently?
Yeah, incredible.
I mean, w- everybody knows that's the guy he is, so, just hoping that he continues to do that and, it, he's playing unbelievable right now, so swinging the bat really well.
What's impressed you the most about Bryce?
I mean, he's still 21.
Yeah.
It's kinda easy to forget that.
Just, just the year he's had, the, the, progression he's made.
Yeah.
I think what's impressed me the most is he doesn't play like a 21-year-old.
You know, he, he controls the zone.
He knows what to do.
He can go both sides of the, the field and, has a good head on his shoulders, so super excited for him and super excited to, to see him continue to develop.
But yeah, he's, he's gonna be a, a superstar if he isn't already.
