Tony Vitello Can’t Blame Himself for Giants’ Horrid Offensive Start

There are times when it’s warranted for a coach or manager to take the blame for his team’s terrible performance. Saturday was not one of those times.

But San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello sure tried.

In his post-game press conference after the Giants lost to the New York Yankees, 3-0, he said to reporters that he believed that he may have made the team tight by delivering a pre-game speech before opening that night might have hyped them up too much.

“I’d put it on myself,” he said in video captured by KNBR radio. “I got a little fire and brimstone, and some good words were shared. But I also think that as of right now it’s a little emotional in there and there’s a lot of try hard.”

Why Vitello Can’t Blame Himself for Giants Offense

"As of right now, it's a little emotional in there and there's a lot of try hard."

Tony Vitello blames himself for the lack of offensive production over two games, citing a need for the locker room to loosen up. pic.twitter.com/EasJ7PYkYg
— KNBR (@KNBR) March 28, 2026

That does little to explain the Giants’ historic start. No team in MLB history has started the season with no runs and five or fewer hits in their first two games, per the Associated Press. Friday’s 3-0 loss also made Vitello the is ninth manager to be shut out in his first two games with a team and seventh in his first two career games as a manager, according to Sport Radar.

Some of it is the Yankees. New York started ace Max Fried in the opener. Cam Schlittler, who had a sub-3.00 ERA as a rookie last season, started the second game. Both were brilliant, as was the bullpen.

Heliot Ramos had San Francisco’s only hit on Friday. The lineup only drew two walks, both by Matt Champan. On Wednesday, San Francisco had three hits in the opener and Ramos had one, along with Luis Arraez and Rafael Devers. The Giants collected two walks.

In two games San Francisco has four hits, four walks, is 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and has stranded 10 baserunners. The Giants aren’t getting many chances, but they aren’t capitalizing on what little they’re getting.

It’s a combination of great pitching, tepid hitting and an inability to cash in on precious few opportunities to score. That’s baseball. While Giants players appreciated Vitello’s willingness to shoulder the blame, no one hid from it in the clubhouse after Friday’s loss, especially the veterans who have been through more slumps that most can remember.

"We're all Major League players. I think we can handle it. We can handle the ups and downs," Robbie Ray said to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic. "It's just one of those things that's happened the first two games. It's not ideal (but) you've got 162 games left. What are you going to do with it?"

Shouldering the blame for college players is one thing. Doing it for pros is another. This is a franchise filled with them. There was little panic after Friday’s loss, but disappointment that the Giants haven’t won a game. That’s how baseball goes, as one Giants coach likes to put it.

Vitello’s heart was in the right place. Call it a rookie mistake for a new manager.