SF Giants communication issues under Tony Vitello persist in loss to Diamondbacks

PHOENIX — It wasn’t the first time a Giants starter learned of Tony Vitello’s plan when the first-year manager began to implement it or let it be known to the press.Tyler Mahle first and foremost blamed himself for not realizing that his workload would be limited in his second start back from the injured list, or where his pitch count stood when the fifth inning began of Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks.But these are things that shouldn’t require a pitcher to wonder, or even be especially alert.The Giants, and Vitello, have a pitching coach, an assistant pitching coach and a director of pitching. But neither Justin Meccage, nor Christian Wonders, nor Frank Anderson, in addition to Vitello, apparently felt it was necessary to relay to their starting pitcher that he would only have 85 pitches to work with before he took the mound, or that he was 18 away from reaching that limit when the fifth inning began.“I didn’t know the pitch count, or else I probably would have went about that [last] at-bat differently,” Mahle said.“I thought it was just going to be normal.

But I guess I should’ve realized.It was my second start back.

It’s not like I was going to throw 100 today.” California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.Please provide a valid email.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story Mahle, however, was left to guess.

And with that logic, he determined the best plan of attack against Ketel Marte with two runners already on base and one out in the fifth was to pitch around Arizona’s best hitter.Marte had nine hits in 16 previous at-bats against Mahle, including three doubles and his third homer against leading off the game.He added a second walk to his ledger on Mahle’s final five pitches, then came around to score on the bases-clearing double from Geraldo Perdomo that followed off Sam Hentges.T...