SAN FRANCISCO ― When it's all said and done, no one is looking at the San Francisco Giants' 2026 season as a success but instead a learning curve. If anyone is willing to learn, it's first-year baseball manager Tony Vitello.
A weekend matchup against the Giants' longtime rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, will conclude the rookie season for Vitello. The Giants were handed their 95th loss of the season after losing to the Dodgers in a 2-0 shutout in front of a sold-out crowd of 40,770 at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Friday, Sept. 25. The series continues through Sunday.
Two games remain in the season, and it's to the drawing board for Vitello and the Giants. The first-year skipper understands that improvements need to be made in order for this
team to be winners.
"A lot of takeaways are little, but they pile up over 162 games, which we're close to. They pile up for sure. I think one of the conversations or many of the conversations that I've gone over in the last week are there needs to be improvement in all areas," Vitello told USA TODAY Sports. "And I'm not exempt from that. I don't think anyone is exempt from that. I think improvement is needed. There's a lot of information. Information is power. You got to take it and you got to make it useful."
Vitello on first MLB season: "Strikes and gutters"
No one could have predicted the kind of season the Giants would have, especially with a first-year MLB manager. Vitello was a gamble coming in from a successful college coaching stint of seven seasons at Tennessee, leading the Vols to its first college World Series in 2024.
There was optimism that the fresh face could bring a new energy, changing the momentum in the Bay Area. Then reality struck.
A number of player injuries prevented the team from fielding its best lineup. Several players were also dealt at the trade deadline, like Heliot Ramos and Robbie Ray. They suffered critical losses early in the season. On top of that, superstars and individuals paid like stars were a shell of themselves, statistically. It was an overall rocky start to the year and they never recovered.
Were there good moments throughout the 162 games, sure. Milestones were achieved, walk-offs and comeback wins were celebrated.
With growth comes growing pains. There were plenty of those during the 2026 season between dugout-clearing fights, bad losses, ejections, and a number of head-shaking moments.
Vitello quoted The Big Lebowski's "strikes and gutters" when describing the learning curve as a manager.
"Ups and downs. Big Lebowski said 'strikes and gutters.' You gotta manage both, which I think has always been a challenge, but it's just at this level it's more relentless. It's every day. Fortunately, (I) got really good people to lean on to make it an enjoyable year, despite the record," Vitello told USA TODAY. "But I don't think anybody that will ever step foot in this park is satisfied with the results and the outcome.
You can only control so much of those but you can control a lot on how you approach getting to those outcomes and results. Those have to be attacked relentlessly, attacked with a passion."
Giants lock in on young prospects going into offseason
Towards the end of the season, San Francisco has been forced to take a look at younger prospects on the team due to injuries to projected starters and stars such as Harrison Bader, Casey Schmitt, Matt Chapman, Daniel Susac and a number of pitchers in their bullpen.
Some of the younger cats getting playing time have been taking full advantage of their opportunities. Third-base coach Gary Pettis has taken notice of those making noise and a name for themselves such as Jonah Cox, Turner Hill, Víctor Bericoto and Christian Koss.
"Cox would be one of the guys that comes to mind right away. Exciting player, can do a lot of things. Then you have Turner out in left field, Victor Bericoto. I mean, Christian Koss has done a good job for us at shortstop. You know, Kavanaugh behind the plate," Pettis told USA TODAY Sports. "We've got a lot of guys that have been given an opportunity to play, and so far they're handling it well. But I also think that they're learning the difference between playing minor league baseball and major league baseball, mentally."
Giants pitcher Dylan Smith is another one of those players making the most of their opportunities to play, especially as he looks to plug a bruised bullpen. Smith was traded from the Detroit Tigers to San Francisco at the start of the 2026 season. He's been determined to put in the necessary work to find a place on a team in need of pitching.
"The biggest part I'll say is just the hard work and determination. Like, you have to go out there each and every day, and you have to go prove yourself," Smith told USA TODAY Sports. "You got to go out there and dominate and attack the hitters. And (you) got to do it every day, you know can't have no days off, especially being in the bullpen. Each time, it matters."
Although not a starter, Smith appeared in 48 games. He has four saves in 2026 as a reliever. Overall, he's posted a 1-6 win-loss record with a 3.31 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. He's delivered 48 strikeouts in 51.2 innings pitched.
Against the Dodgers on Friday, Sept. 25, Smith pitched one inning and struck out three batters. No hits, runs or batters walked were allowed. He is looking to find a home in San Francisco, an organization scraping for pitchers to improve its bullpen after multiple injuries all year long.
"I feel like you gotta build on each and every opportunity that you get, you know," Smith said. "I feel like as long as we have each other's back and we go out there and compete and do what we do, then I feel like the bullpen's gonna be fine."
San Francisco's young players still have building blocks to develop in order to be a more competitive team in the future. The potential is there in the Giants' organization; Vitello said it's about making valuable use of their time during the offseason.
"(I think) rounding things out with some of these guys and making sure they attack the offseason the right way. This offseason will be more important than arguably any offseason in the big leagues. It's always a time to separate yourself from people," Vitello told USA TODAY. "Whether it's you as an individual trying to grab a job, or reach some individual goals and ultimately a team is made up of individuals so if the team is going to be better, that's gotta be a key.
"So I think that's gotta be done before anything," he added. "Obviously you got to refresh a little bit too. But a big thing is again, the information piece, reflect back on some things. You do have the benefit of slowing things down or watching a replay and saying what if, or this and changing some things. I don't think that can wait until it's start time. It's gotta be put in place ahead of time and then maybe that message is relayed ahead of time to the players as well."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Strikes and gutters' defines Tony Vitello's first MLB season with Giants
