Giants Star Willy Adames Has Fun Nickname for New Boss Tony Vitello

The new San Francisco Giants manager is making the rounds with the team during FanFest activities in the Bay Area.

San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames runs the bases after his solo home run. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Everyone knows San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello is the new guy. And, when you’re the new guy, there’s a lot to do.

For the past two weekends, Vitello has been deeply engaged in meeting fans in Giants Fanfest activities. Last weekend it was San Jose. This weekend it was San Pedro. There was no managerial hiring this cycle that has been — and will be — more closely scrutinized than Vitello’s. San Francisco fans have the right to be skeptical.

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Vitello has done question and answer sessions at both FanFest sessions and on Saturday he got a question that led him to reveal shortstop Willy Adames’ nickname for his first-year manager.

What Willy Adames Calls Tony Vitello

Tony Vitello is introduced as the new manager of the San Francisco Giants. | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle on X (formerly Twitter), Adames has a one-word nickname for Vitello, as the skipper said that Adames keeps calling him “rookie.”

It’s not creative, but it is apt. Vitello is a rookie in every sense when it comes to Major League Baseball. He’s never been a professional player, coach or manager, making president of baseball operations Buster Posey’s decision to hire him one without modern precedent.

The St. Louis, Missouri, native played his college baseball at Missouri and went straight into being an assistant coach for the Tigers, where he was Max Scherzer’s pitching coach at one time. He was then an assistant coach at TCU and at Arkansas before he was hired for his first head-coaching job at Tennessee in 2018.

He returned the Vols to the top of the college baseball world. His tenure reached a zenith in 2024 when he guided Tennessee to 60 wins and the Men’s College World Series championship. He also took the program to the MCWS in 2021 and 2023. He also led the program to two SEC regular-season and tournament championships. He left Knoxville with a record of 341-131.

Adames will be one of the veteran players he’ll count on as San Francisco tries to shed four years of mediocrity after posting an 81-81 season in 2025. That led to the firing of manager Bob Melvin, which came shortly after he signed a one-year contract extension.

For the season Adames slashed .225/.318/.421 with 30 home runs and 87 RBI. He became the first Giants player since Barry Bonds in 2004 to hit 30 home runs in a season. Rafael Devers hit 35 home runs for the season but didn’t join the team until a trade in June. Adames also had 22 doubles, 2 triples, 12 stolen bases and 94 runs, the last of which was a single-season high.

The shortstop isn’t going anywhere. Last offseason he signed a seven-year deal worth $182 million. That broke the franchise record for largest contract set by Posey.