Tony Vitello Might Be Too Candid For His Own Good

The San Francisco Giants shut out the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0, Wednesday night, for their second consecutive shutout victory and first home series win of the season. The Giants are 5-8 and presently in last place in what is shaping up to be a tough NL West—yes, behind even the Colorado Rockies, who are having a ball. They've faced a tough schedule, but wins and losses are only part of the picture: The Giants sport the worst run differential (-16) and second-worst offense by total runs (41) in the National League. They scored a single run in their season-opening three-game series against the Yankees, and were outscored 24–5 in three losses to the Mets. They've looked listless at times, and broadly out of sorts. By at least one measure, this has been the worst start to a Giants season in more than a century. It has not been an encouraging introduction to the majors for rookie manager Tony Vitello. Vitello has been on the job not quite six months, and already his legend is growing, though not in any direction he might've hoped. He didn't say anything weird or outlandish at Wednesday's postgame presser, which was a surprise. So far this season he has already given props to a disgraced, radioactive entertainer and affectionately compared his player to an athlete currently in the news for flipping his SUV. He's also revealed more than is advisable about his team's internal dynamics and his own managerial thought processes. "It’d be awesome to be in a better situation, but I think we found some things out about ourselves that can be valuable in the long run," Vitello said on Wednesday. "We’ve certainly got to be motivated to learn from mistakes in the past and hunt down the best version of ourselves." Perhaps when he says "learn from mistakes" and "hunt down the best version of ourselves," Vitello is referencing more than swing decisions. Perhaps he is prepared to be normal for a change.