Tony Vitello previews the Giants' road series finale vs. Mets on Sunday
Giants manager Tony Vitello speaks to reporters before San Francisco's series finale against the New York Mets on Sunday at Citi Field.
Tony Vitello previews the Giants' road series finale vs. Mets on Sunday originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Cesar Perdomo.
Yeah.
He's, starting and what, what are your impressions, since he started Yeah, he's been great.
He, he pitches with a little bit of panache to him, and, it's a really quick left-handed arm.
Last time, kinda came in on, you know, and I'm gonna say short notice, but our starter's outing got cut short.
He came in and kinda saved the day for us, and was pretty efficient.
He attacked the zone and does it with good stuff.
Is that why you decided to give him a start?
Yeah, and I think, too, that day he was able to pitch on the regular scheduled day he would've had if he would've stayed in the minor leagues.
Pitch count was relatively close to that of a start.
So pretty much wanna keep him in, in a routine as far as logging, you know, a certain amount of innings for us.
We'll see if they're all starts, but it'll be good to give him the opportunity.
The last, few days, the last week or two, there seemed to be a positive vibe in the room.
Would you say, would you say that, and why?
Yeah, I'm g- I'm glad you see that.
I, I think a lot of it is just, you know, the compete part that's taken place during the game.
The guys feel good, about the fact that they're all in the same fight together.
They're all pushing forward, and, you know, we've had some tight games, and y- you know, some ones that have worked out in our favor, and the other way, too.
But the next day everyone seems to kinda come with a fresh attitude and an energy.
And, you know, we got a lotta downtime at the park, so you gotta have some personality, and you gotta f- fill some of this downtime with, you know It doesn't all have to be antics and shenanigans and all that crazy stuff, but, they seem to be having fun getting to know each other.
And like I said, the main thing is I think they're really drawing on each other out on the field competing.
This is your first year as a major league manager.
What, did you are you learning now that you didn't learn on opening day?
To not walk out on the field yesterday.
You know, I, I think there's just a ton of little things.
They just all pile up.
So, you know, to pick out one might seem trivial.
But there are a lot of differences.
And, you know, there's a lot of things that the organization's trying to do, that we're pushing forward.
So, but I, I'd say the biggest thing is I think these guys are all similar to players I've been around in the past, especially the group we have right now.
They wanna be pushed.
They wanna be educated on things maybe they, you know, didn't do well, how do I correct it?
Or just be prepared ahead of time for what they're getting into on that given day.
And then they're all at their best when they're having fun.
And I think, you know, probably the best part of today would be a win.
The second-best part would you be, would be you kinda pointing out over the last week, on a tough road trip, you know, we go to Atlanta for one game, they have made it fun.
Right.
Also, is there one thing you would do over again?
There's, there's many things I would do over again.
I think it all, would all start with, the off-season was a busy one because it was new and you're hiring, people, and you're trying to go out and meet people.
So it'd be nice to have that time to take advantage of and do some other things.
Maybe better prepare guys for spring training, and start some communication that's a little bit more in depth.
Spring training would definitely do some things different.
And then as the season goes on, any time you have a game, y- you could even win a game, when you're in our position as the coaches, you always The next day we always revisit, should we have done this?
Or devil's advocate, would you do this?
So again, kinda like the, the differences question you asked or what, what have I learned, it's, it's a bunch of little things that stack up daily, and the best you can do is, is learn from them and make adjustments.
What is that like to see as a manager, see some of the young players have their first big moments, like Casas today with his first two r- two-run home run Yeah.
Two home run effort?
No, for him, I said it, you know, you know, a little bit in a sloppy way, but anything positive that happens for him he deserves.
And everybody knows that.
So, for that moment in particular, it was exciting, but that's like one storyline.
A guy who got cut short on playing time early in the year, you can kinda put that on me.
But the fans love him.
They wanna see him out there.
They were telling me all the time at, at Oracle earlier in the year.
And circumstances have allowed him to get a long runway, and he's taking advantage of it, and he's doing a great job.
That's his story.
Normally for a big league team, you probably have these stories, like Perdomo and Casas, pop up, you know, here and there.
We've got, like, 15 of them going on at once, and it's a blast to watch and, and be a part of.
It kind of makes you most In the standings people say these games are meaningless, but they do mean something f- to somebody.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, in the hitters meeting yesterday, there was definitely good vibes, and we had a lot of fun, but there was also some functional talk in there.
And just how every at bat carries weight.
Every at bat means something.
And you could probably list seven or eight things that it means.
As it related to yesterday, we were talking about how we were able to force their closer into game one.
But yeah, it all means something.
And, you know, these guys are fighting for their lives in a lot of different ways, whether it's stake a claim at a spot, just remain in the organization, remain in the big leagues.
There's, there's a lot that's going into it.
What about Willie Odomes?
How's he doing?
Do we expect to see him back at all this year, or is he done?
I, I Yeah, I think it would, it would take some, a big turn of circumstances in order to get him back.
But he is doing well.
Ever since he got some treatment, every day on our report he's feeling better and better.
The last time we saw him at Oracle, he'd come in the dugout, you know, have fun with the guys, and, and do his best, you know, taking on that leadership role that I think he had at the trade deadline when our roster got so young.
But not traveling with the team.
So, you just get the report, and he's feeling better and better.
What is he progressing doing?
What's that?
What is he progressing doing?
Right now just rehab stuff on the arm.
So it'd be a while before he got active.
And then we also might reach that point where it might be best just to rest and then pick things up a little bit earlier in the off-season.
Of course- It might, it might be a situation where you run out of games to, uh- Yeah.
Yeah, I think so.
I think it's a little more likely, you know, on the infield for Marcelo Meyer to be back with us at some point, or be with us for the first time.
And then Victor Barracota's progressing pretty well, too.
But most of those other guys are probably at a period where, like you said, the clock might run out
