Why Giants’ Tony Vitello had nothing to prove to Matt Chapman – NBC Sports Bay Area & California
SCOTTSDALE — Tony Vitello’s early classes with reporters within the offseason had been mild on particulars, which made sense. Vitello was making an attempt to get to know a whole roster, workers and extra in just some months earlier than taking cost when the Giants reported to camp final month.
But there was one identify that got here up usually in these classes. Vitello all the time circled again to Matt Chapman when requested about his effort to get to know the roster, mentioning how essential it was for him to meet the third baseman in particular person, and likewise joking about how he wished they had exchanged 25 extra textual content messages over the winter.
Chapman is without doubt one of the crew leaders, so ingrained in every thing the Giants now do on and off the sector that he most likely could be the one sporting a captain’s “C” if the Giants had been to ever give one out. But he was additionally very shut with Bob Melvin, the person Vitello changed.
It may have been a considerably awkward transition given the truth that Buster Posey fired Melvin just some months after Chapman talked about how excited he was to see his longtime supervisor get one other yr on his contract. But Chapman just lately mentioned that Vitello didn’t want to win him over.
“I had no preconceived notion that Tony had to provide something to me or whatever that is,” Chapman mentioned on Thursday’s Giants Talk podcast. “I was all on board from the second that he called me and reached out. I just wanted to let him know that I’m all on board and I’m here to win, and whatever you need from me, I’m all in.”
Vitello has seen that in motion over the previous month. A number of weeks in the past, he bought the complete roster collectively on the infield to make some robust factors about one thing he did not like in one among their Cactus League video games. There had been a couple of eyebrows raised, but when any younger gamers had doubts in regards to the message, they solely wanted to look behind their supervisor. Chapman was standing a couple of toes away, nodding on the message.
For the 32-year-old, the one objective this season is to win, and he believes Vitello can get the Giants there. He has identified a few instances this spring that Vitello has been profitable at each cease.
“There’s slight differences,” he mentioned of his background, “But winning baseball is winning baseball.”
It can be loads simpler for Vitello to get the Giants again to the postseason if Chapman is his regular self, and to this point this spring, he has seemed just like the crew’s greatest participant. Chapman is 13-for-29 with two homers and 6 doubles, and his batting apply classes have been jaw-dropping at instances, full of opposite-field blasts properly over the bullpen at Scottsdale Stadium.
Chapman seems to be poised for an enormous yr, and the Giants had been reminded final season of simply how essential that can be. He had a .812 OPS and the Giants had been 10 video games over .500 when he bought damage diving again into first final June.
Chapman returned a month later, however by no means felt proper. Cortisone pictures bought him via the second half, however he admits now that the harm possible wanted three months of relaxation to heal. That wasn’t an possibility final summer season.
“It’s hard, that’s kind of my nature is I feel guilty when I don’t play,” he mentioned. “I feel bad not being there for the guys. I would rather be out there and play through pain than just sit and watch, but I think the issue is, am I helping the team if I’m not able to play at full strength? Obviously it’s somewhat yes, somewhat no, so I kind of had to weigh those options, but it got to the point where my hand was hurting too bad.”
Chapman ended up taking part in 128 video games, his fewest in a full big-league season. The Giants went 81-81, and Melvin wasn’t the one one to take the autumn. Chapman had spent years with bench coach Ryan Christenson, third base coach Matt Williams and bullpen coach Garvin Alston.
For as excited as Chapman was to meet Vitello, that earlier a part of the offseason was tough. It was a reminder that it may be a brutal enterprise while you’re not residing up to expectations.
“I love BoMel, I love Ryno, I love Matty and G — all of those coaches that I’ve been with for seven years of my career,” he mentioned. “I perceive that the best way we completed the season final yr, it was form of ugly. Somebody had bought to take the blame and you may’t simply fireplace the entire crew, so I perceive that issues like that occur.
“I would have always loved to win a World Series with BoMel, that was always our goal, but sometimes that’s just not the way that things go.”
