Tony Vitello reveals why the 2026 SF Giants were doomed basically from the start

The SF Giants got off to a bad start in the 2026 MLB season and things never really got better from there. It's been a rough introduction to the big leagues for rookie manager Tony Vitello and in a recent interview he reveals that the team's bad start really derailed things early on. Vitello spoke with Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic in a ranging interview that covered a host of topics. Vitello talked about the team's expectations coming into the season and said: 'I think everyone deep down felt we're gonna take the world by storm, and when we didn't right out of the chute, it put everybody on their heels, and I'd be guilty of that too.' The first-year skipper was honest about the fact that he was maybe a bit overly amped for the start of the season especially with the whole spectacle of Opening Day being on Netflix against the New York Yankees. He said that if any team needed to get off to a good start it was the Giants and when asked why he felt that way, he said: 'Credibility. Because we know what all the storylines were. Ultimately, credibility leads to belief.' He's right. With so much attention on his hiring and the fact that he came from the college ranks with no professional experience, the season really needed to get off to a good start just so the players could fully buy in to Vitello and what he was selling. The fact that the Giants got swept in such meek fashion to start the year probably just sapped the team of whatever belief it had after a spring training in which they looked like a well-oiled machine. Getting off on the wrong foot like that just really sunk their chances from jump and made it nearly impossible to turn things around especially with the lack of talent on the roster. If Tony Vitello learns from this season, Giants will be better off Maybe a more talented roster, especially on the pitching side, could have overcome such a shaky start but the belief clearly wasn't there and Vitello was on his back foot basically the entire first half. The poor guy even said he wasn't comfortable showing his face around San Francisco with the team struggling so badly. Perhaps now that he has weathered such a trying season with a few ups but mainly a lot of downs, he will be better equipped going forward. He will know what 162 games feels like and understands that not every game is do or die in a regular season. It's not easy to get on-the-job training the way he has this year but at least it's been a good learning experience for him. If he can apply the lessons he's learned going forward and the Giants are not this bad again during his tenure then perhaps the pain of this year will lead to better results in the future, but there's a chance 2026 brings back an era of Giants baseball we'd all like to forget. Add us as a preferred source on Google