Tony Vitello lauds Keaton Winn's ‘incredible' composure during save opportunity

Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks to reporters following San Francisco's 1-0 win against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday at American Family Field.

Tony Vitello lauds Keaton Winn's 'incredible' composure during save opportunity originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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Was there a point where you thought he was gonna be able to take it all the way?

I don't think so, just because I don't know that it would've been fair to him.

Now, I mean, if it was cruising along and he's at 100 pitches, it's the ninth inning, and he hadn't given up, you know, just playing along with the question.

But, I, I think later in the year that'll occur.

At, at this time, being that second outing, it, it was pretty unlikely.

How much is that kind of on your mind?

You know, he's perfect going into sixth, no-hitter going into the seventh, but the pitch count is kind of creeping up there.

Plenty.

you know, plenty.

Again, you, you wanna I, I like when a guy takes ownership of the game as a starter.

He's kind of bought himself the right to, you know, face Sowers with, you know, a left-handed hitter or, or other circumstances for some of the guys in the room.

I think some of them, maybe it doesn't show in the win and loss column, but they've done that.

they've gone out there and had a really good outing, and you kind of buy the benefit or you create your own argument of, "I'm good, I stay in the game here," so.

But with these circumstances of it being such a tight score and him being y- you know, back just a second time after being on the IL, it's, it's a constant conversation.

But we're, we're, you know, if, if there's anything positive going on or, or something to put out there is, we're talking more than ever, whether it's in the dugout or the office or out on the field.

So 85 pitches through six.

Would you have let him go if it was a no-hitter through seven, beyond that?

I, I think we started to kinda talk about him- Yeah maybe going eight.

Okay.

I think we felt about, good about him going seven, but, I think that was a possibility, but he's gonna need to be pretty efficient.

And then he gets to the point where you got a 1-0 score, a guy on base, you know, it's a tough one.

We've, we've, I guess, you know, you're looking for sympathy or, but you kinda get to a coin flip sometimes.

Yeah.

You know?

When it's 1 to nothing, and if we would've got an eighth inning and somebody's on base or something like that.

You mentioned the quality of their lineup.

What in particular was he doing so well?

You know, I think he was, you know, Colorado, the stuff was so good, but it, it, you know, was erratic at times.

He was in the zone and then out of the zone.

It wasn't like he was wild by any means, but the times that he's out of the zone, they resulted in walks.

And of course, just the one probably gets away from him based off fatigue, or he had a hit by pitch, but he was relentless in the zone.

And even on occasion where he goes 3-0, he's, he's right back in the zone.

So, I think that was a theme for the pitchers tonight, and I know, you know, Mil's in there and he wants to do his part.

He kinda shares my trait of being a little too hard on himself.

But the bottom line is he came in a tough situation, he got an out.

We know he can throw better, but his guy picked him up, his brother in the bullpen picked him up, and there's gonna be multiple, multiple times where Eric does that for somebody else.

So I think the theme for the whole group was to pound the zone and, and they did that.

And sometimes, you know, I could pick any name out of a hat in their lineup, sometimes that guy is gonna get you.

but you'd rather go out on your shield knowing you, you attacked.

Yeah, last- Broken bat broken bat, double to start, and obviously it wasn't easy to the very end.

Just what did you think about the way Keaton kept his composure there?

So I'll be honest, in the room, it's a great opportunity to say, you know, "Here we go again."

And we've e- we even talked about, in the dugout, you know, Turang is up, Schwarber's up, runner in scoring position, and there's, you know, only one out.

Do you wanna put the, the winning run out there?

And, so it kind of unfolded like you thought it would.

It's not gonna be easy.

It's gonna be a challenge.

But Keaton's composure was incredible.

And, you know, normally, you know, this, I'm such a believer in the mentality part of this game and mindset, and you get choi- so many choices.

That's what makes it tough all the time.

Do you wanna go down this road or that road?

And he forged ahead in that determination category, coming out in the, in the mess we brought him in, and then throughout that too.

I think- What about the work that Susac did there in the ninth?

It just, I, I went to, he was the first guy I went to in the dugout.

It just, you know, and I think Mess communi- Mess got ahead of it before the inning, and of course there was a mound visit too.

I think that was as much reminders as anything, and he, he talked about how to handle Turang if we got behind or if we got ahead.

but those guys are on the field.

Those are the warriors on the field.

And Susac, you know, he's, his at bats, I've said it, it's gonna be that way.

They're always gonna be competitive, but he's really coming into his own and just managing the game and, and did a great job with Webby.

But more so it's highlighted in that ninth inning.

That little, that little flare in the chat almost got that.

Did you think you had a chance there?

Yeah, I, I really did.

there was a lot of, you know, it was a playoff-type game and their fans were into it.

There was a good crowd.

and there was a lot of little things.

You know, their third baseman also makes a crazy catch.

you know, there was, there was a lot of little things that you're playing in your head, "Is this the difference or is this the difference?"

And the bottom line is, we had a big old strong guy hit one out, and the rest of the night was a lot of good pitching from both sides.

What can that do for when moving forward to have that kind of performance and tiring toward their best hitters down the game there?

I, I think double or triple what it would do in a normal situation, just because he's, we're still not halfway into the season.

He's new to the bullpen.

And, it's been a challenge for several of these guys.

How do you get hot?

How do you manage two days in a row?

All that good stuff.

How do you manage getting him out and then having to go back out?

fortunately, it was a quick go-around for two outs for him in the eighth.

But just having a vision of what it looks like when you get something done, it's important.

And, yeah, I think it's equally important for the team, because we've been in that situation a lot.

Unfortunately, it hasn't gone our way.

so let's go with the old clich, the numbers will work out.

If you're competing the right way and you're competing, which these guys, you know, Gary talked to the guys a little bit, just introductory fashion, and the one thing he said, our players said, I said to Gary behind closed doors, "They're fighting.

Trust me, they're fighting."

So if you're fighting like that, either at home or away on the ninth, I'd like to think the numbers would even out.

What's it like to see Barraco collect his, his first home run as well?

It's, it's awesome.

I mean, I, I just like being around him.

he's low maintenance.

When he does crack a smile or give you a comment, same thing, it's kinda double or triple of value because he doesn't say a lot.

he's just very serious about his craft.

And, you know, I think to get the first home run is great, but for him to kinda say offensively, you know, it's, there's a whole nine innings, but you could say on paper offensively he won the game for us, and that's gotta be a good feeling.

And, I got the rookie treatment in there.

I guarantee it's a better feeling than having all kinds of stuff poured on you.

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