Why Max Scherzer Believes Tony Vitello Will Succeed as Giants Manager

Tony Vitello will be the talk of Major League baseball for the next few years. His out-of-the-box hiring as San Francisco Giants manager is seen as a significant risk for president of baseball operations Buster Posey.

It will be years before anyone knows if the move pays off. But, in the hours after the hiring those connected to Vitello praised it. Many of them were former players who are either in the Major or minor leagues. Others played for Vitello before he was the head coach at Tennessee.

One of those players was Max Scherzer. Both he and Vitello were born and raised in St. Louis. While they weren’t contemporaries as players, both played baseball at Missouri. Vitello played there from 2000-02 and then moved into coaching. He landed back at Mizzou in 2003 as a volunteer assistant coach and then became a full-time assistant coach in 2004. That just happened to be Scherzer’s freshman year with the Tigers.

Vitello recruited Scherzer and was his pitching coach. He helped refine Scherzer’s balance and delivery, as he eventually became the Big 12 pitcher of the year in 2005. He was selected No. 11 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006. He was Missouri’s first selection in the first round in program history.

Max Scherer on Tony Vitello

Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello in a gray uniform and orange hat walks across a baseball field — Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When Vitello was hired on Wednesday, Scherzer was working out in Toronto as he and the Blue Jays were preparing for the World Series, which started on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Given his experience with Vitello, he was thrilled to see him get the job with San Francisco, as he told reporters, including MLB.com.

"I'm just so happy for him,” Scherzer said. “Happy he got the opportunity to be able to get to the big leagues. I've been friends with him my whole time ever since Mizzou. I've known the fire in him. I know the passion that he has. I've always believed in him. Even when he got the job in Tennessee, I knew he was the right man for the job then. He showed you what he can do at the college level. I'm sure there's going to be doubters here at the big league level, but kudos to Buster Posey for recognizing what a leader is. I know Tony is a leader. He's going to bring an energy and a fire to that clubhouse, and the players are definitely going to respond because of that."

Vitello takes over the Giants after spending eight seasons at Tennessee, where he spent eight seasons rebuilding the Volunteers into one of the best baseball programs in NCAA Division I. That reached a zenith in 2024 when he guided Tennessee to 60 wins and the Men’s College World Series championship in 2024. 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.