The wait is finally over. Former Tennessee Vols manager Tony Vitello will be stepping onto the top step of the dugout at Oracle Park in San Francisco tonight, as he makes his professional debut as the Giants’ manager against the New York Yankees before a national audience on Netflix.

Vitello’s decision to leave Tennessee has been one that crushed Tennessee fans while perplexing some MLB industry experts. As the first college head coach to make the leap to MLB manager with no prior professional experience, Vitello’s success is one that will surely be closely watched.

Speaking of some of those MLB pundits, what do they think about Vitello’s chances of success in 2026? ESPN’s panel of baseball writers ranked the Giants 17th of 30 teams and included them in the tier of “if everything breaks their way” as far as playoff chances.

ESPN gives Giants a chance at the playoffs, and gives Tony Vitello winning Manager of the Year the best chance at an individual award

Jorge Castillo pointed out the obvious when it comes to Vitello, that he’s going to be scrutinized, as will president of baseball operations Buster Posey, all season long for the unconventional hire.

“The thing we’ll be talking about most this season: Tony Vitello’s first season as manager. Vitello is the first to make the leap from college to big league manager without prior professional coaching experience. Though Vitello enjoyed great success at Tennessee, including winning the 2024 College World Series, managing in the majors is a different beast. Hiring him was a curious decision by Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey, who has been unafraid to make bold moves. This one will be under the microscope all season.” 

Bradford Doolittle at least gave Vitello a shot at Manger of the Year honors, although it felt more like out of default and/or obligation due to a lack of options.

“Most likely 2026 award winner: Tony Vitello, NL Manager of the Year. Sure, you could go with Logan Webb as a Cy Young candidate here. Or if Bryce Eldridge can improve his contact ability while starting the season in the minors, he could mash his way into Rookie of the Year consideration. But no one knows what to expect from Vitello. His spiel so far is, at every turn, to say something like, “I didn’t even know what the winter meetings look like” — and it’s kind of endearing. But there has to be a reason Buster Posey made this out-of-the-box hire, right? Maybe Vitello is the new John McGraw.“

The skepticism is fully warranted, to be fair to them. Anytime you make the jump from the amateur/college levels to the pros, you’re dealing with different types of players, different rules, different environments, etc.

However, the expectation to win will never change, and Vitello’s job will remain fundamentally the same: learn his players, what makes them tick. Figure out what buttons to push, what moves to make, etc. to get the most out of their abilities.

We’ll see if he can do that this year starting tonight, when the talk can finally end and the product on the field can start to define his abilities.

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