Giants Manager Tony Vitello Makes Necessary Change to Coaching Staff

Manager Tony Vitello finally gave San Francisco Giants fans their pound of flesh for their dreadful start to the 2026 season.

The Giants reassigned third-base coach Hector Borg and replaced him with Ron Wotus on an interim basis after their embarrassing baserunning display in their sweep-clinching, 3-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

The Giants rank dead last in the majors in runs scored (204) amid their 22-34 start in Vitello’s first year as manager. They sit in fourth place in the National League West, 14 games behind the first-place and rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Francisco’s .393 win percentage sits 14th in the 15-team NL — only ahead of the Colorado Rockies (.351), against whom it will start a three-game series Friday at Coors Field.

The Giants Fired Third-Base Coach Hector Borg

The Giants offense is on pace to be one of the worst in the franchise’s history. Their on-base percentage is .293. They are 24th in wRC+ (93). They are 27th in the majors in Offensive fWAR (minus-21.3).

But San Francisco’s base running has been at the forefront of its atrocious offensive output. The Giants have minus-4.6 baserunning runs above average, which is 29th of the 30 teams — only the Los Angeles Angels are worse.

So the stage was set for changes before the Giants’ awful eighth-inning baserunning doomed their chances of staving off a sweep at the hands of the rival D-Backs.

Of course, the gaffe-filled frame started when Willy Adames was thrown out at the plate on a relatively routine relay throw from Arizona third baseman Aramis Garcia to catcher Jose Fernandez after Luis Arraez’s single.

There was only one out, and No. 3 hitter Casey Schmitt, who leads the team in RBIs, coming to the plate.

“I was just following Borgie’s decision,” Adames said. “Unfortunate that we had that result at the plate. I tried to get in there, but I don’t think I could have done anything else.”

Borg’s send, even despite the ball got behind Arizona center fielder Jorge Barrosa, would have been bad enough. But then Arraez got too big of a secondary lead and was picked off at second base by Arizona pitcher Kevin Ginkel to end the threat.

Tony Vitello may end up Getting Fired due to his Foolish Baserunning Approach

Borg may have fallen on the sword for his awful send of Adames, and failure to notify Arraez to get back to second, but Vitello is ultimately responsible for the Giants’ awful baserunning.

So seeing Vitello’s quotes in the aftermath of the atrocious baserunning inning, and the Giants’ awful year on the bases, makes it hard to think he has learned from his staff’s mistakes.

“We’d like to push the envelope a little bit and flat out take it off the players’ shoulders and put it more on ours,” Vitello said on KNBR on Thursday. “If you get thrown out, it’s our fault.”

Adames’ quote made it seem like this was the case already, and it wasn’t like the shortstop ran through a stop sign. But Vitello may have compounded his gaffe by publicly hinting Borg’s hire wasn’t his to make and embarrassing his boss, Buster Posey.

“During the meetings we had at Oracle Park, [Borg’s] name came up as a guy down in the organization who some would truly be disappointed if for some reason he bounced to another organization,” Vitello said on the same KNBR interview. “The first time I was able to meet him in person was in spring training.”

Vitello’s hire has been an unmitigated disaster, from the Giants’ anemic offense to his embarrassing criticism of the Ball Dudes at Oracle Park. He’s only on a three-year contract, and it would be a surprise if he gets even a second season based on the way things are going.

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