Tony Vitello’s first season with the San Francisco Giants did not go according to plan, but at least one Giants legend believes he deserves some grace. Former Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt, a three-time World Series champion with the club, came to the manager’s defense on “Foul Territory.”

Affeldt noted that Vitello was always going to face extra scrutiny after jumping straight from the college ranks at Tennessee.

“Vitello’s learning how to be a big league manager. The hit the whole time on him was going to be like, ‘Oh, he comes from college.’ If he didn’t win out of the gate, they were going to bring up nothing but, ‘Oh, he’s a college coach,’” Affeldt said.

"I just think they were in a state of flux, and it was a really hard team to manage."@JeremyAffeldt defends Tony Vitello after his first season with the Giants… pic.twitter.com/XVDPY8KbTl

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) November 12, 2026

San Francisco certainly did not win out of the gate. The Giants limped to a 97-loss season and missed the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years. The team was also hit by a wave of injuries.

“I don’t think any coach, when he comes into the big leagues for the first time, expects that his roster is going to start one way and then everybody’s going to be off the roster, hurt or injured, the whole time,” Affeldt added.

“I just think they were in a state of flux, and it was a really hard team to manage with the injuries, with the chaos. I think he did well with it.”

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He also joked about advice he gave Vitello, who finished with an MLB-high seven ejections.

“I encouraged him one time when I saw him, he needs to get thrown out a few times, and he went and got thrown out like seven games in a row. I was like, ‘That might’ve been a little too aggressive, bud,’” Affeldt joked.

The Giants have made it clear that Vitello will be back for his second season. Affeldt believes Buster Posey now needs to challenge him to keep growing.