San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello sounded off on Saturday about a report from the Apple TV Friday Night Baseball broadcast of the team’s game against the San Diego Padres.
Meeting with the media ahead of Saturday evening’s game at Petco Park, Vitello called out “bullsh*t” comments regarding the work ethic of Giants shortstop Willy Adames.
Vitello didn’t directly name the source of the report, but he alluded to comments made by Apple TV play-by-play announcer Wayne Randazzo during Friday night’s game.
“Any questioning of anyone’s work ethic that has to work with [Giants infield coach Ron Washington] is not right,” Vitello said. “But questioning work ethic there, first of all, is not anything close to what I put out there. I could give you my exact answer, but it’s bullsh*t, is what it is.”
“If anything, if I had a Christmas wish and I was going to say one way or another on the hitting, Willy probably works harder than any offensive player we have on his swing,” Vitello added. “If anything, he could maybe even deduct a couple swings, and that’s not a jab, it’s more of a compliment.”
“It’s bulls–t, is what it is.”
Tony Vitello adamantly defended Willy Adames after a recent report criticizing his work ethic pic.twitter.com/dGAwBUVs6b
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 1, 2026
Randazzo’s comments came in the bottom of the third inning on Friday night.
🔊🆙https://t.co/5geIpuncfz pic.twitter.com/Q74HOVdisJ
— Dieter Kurtenbach 🔥 (@dieter) August 1, 2026
“[Washington] said it’s been a little bit harder to get Willy Adames to commit to the work day in and day out, but Adames has been doing it lately, and he said you could see the improvements,” Randazzo said alongside color commentator Dontrelle Willis in the Apple TV booth. “Tony Vitello even said that whenever you see Adames and Wash work one-on-one, the next two or three games, Adames is a much better defensive player.”
Vitello, in his first year as an MLB manager after being head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers from 2018 to 2025, has been extremely honest with the media all season.
And it’s been a very disappointing season for a Giants team that is 47-64.
Adames’ performance hasn’t helped things. After signing a seven-year, $182 million contract ahead of the 2025 season, Adames has been worth 0.3 wins above replacement (WAR) per FanGraphs. The shortstop has been valued at -12 outs above average (OAA) defensively, the third-worst mark in the majors.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.