The Giants’ June slog picked up another ugly wrinkle Monday night, and this one had nothing to do with a bad bounce or a blown save. It came after a 5-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, when Tyler Mahle revealed he had no idea he was working under an 85-pitch limit before the game went sideways.
Mahle was pulled in the fifth after walking Ketel Marte to load the bases with one out. That fourth ball to Marte was his 85th pitch, and once Sam Hentges came in, the inning unraveled fast. Hentges let all three inherited runners score on a Geraldo Perdomo double, flipping the game to Arizona for good.
Afterward, Mahle said the pitch count had never been communicated to him.
Tyler Mahle said it was never communicated to him that he was on a pitch count of 85 tonight, "or else I probably would have went about that (last) at-bat differently."
"I just thought it was going to be normal, but I guess I should have realized. It's my second start back."
- Evan Webeck (@EvanWebeck) June 30, 2026
That kind of breakdown is hard to explain away. On a normal team, it would barely register. On this Giants club, though, it lands right in the middle of a month already defined by leadership questions and communication failures.
The simplest version of the story is also the most damning: somebody should have told Mahle. The manager should know the pitch count, and the manager should be the one making sure the starter knows it too.
Maybe it could have been the pitching coach, the bullpen coach, or the catcher. But the burden sits with Tony Vitello, and that’s where the scrutiny points.
Vitello addressed the issue before Tuesday night’s game, offering this explanation: "You could do that," meaning tell Mahle the pitch count he's one, "but better to, in my opinion, not have guys peeking up at the Jumbotron or the scoreboard and be locked in.”
It’s an explanation, but not a very reassuring one.
The Mahle episode also fits a larger pattern that has been hanging over the Giants this month. After the team’s Pride Night controversy, Vitello gave vague answers about pregame communication with players, while MLB placed blame on Giants leadership for not clearly communicating the available options. Then Buster Posey admitted he had not spoken to Rafael Devers after his childlike display in Miami, and Vitello minimized the need to confront Devers’ outburst, even though Devers later apologized to his manager.
As Andrew Baggarly recently wrote for The Athletic, the team has "lost institutional control," and that starts at the top.
Mahle’s comments alone might not have made much noise elsewhere. But for a team whose off-field issues keep overshadowing its terrible play, they become one more spotlight on a front office and coaching staff that keep stepping into avoidable messes.
For now, though, don’t expect sweeping change. Posey is almost certainly staying put, and Vitello is unlikely to be going anywhere after this season.
The hope inside the organization has to be that both men learn from the mistakes made this year. They’re still among the youngest in MLB in their respective roles, and there has been some good mixed in with the bad.
Posey has shown a willingness to make big moves to improve the club, and Vitello’s quotes can be entertaining in the right way.
But flirting with the worst record in baseball is not the only issue here. The roster may need work, but so does the leadership. If that doesn’t improve by 2027, these two will be sitting on a much hotter seat.
In Other News...
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Several weeks after the Giants Pride Night, the fallout from four pitchers protesting the teams Pride hats is still echoing around San Francisco. What started as a game-night controversy has turned into a broader conversation about the city the Giants represent, and whether that environment can become a factor when the club tries to bring in outside talent.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser said the debate could linger because the citys prominent LGBTQ community is part of the reality free agents have to consider. The question hovering over the Giants now is not just how they manage the public reaction to the protest, but whether that reaction becomes something players weigh when the offseason market opens up again. [Read more 🡒]
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Giants Keep Embarrassing Themselves In The One Area Posey Preaches Most
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The bigger issue for San Francisco is that these are exactly the kinds of details Buster Posey has said matter most, the little things that should be nonnegotiable on a well-run team. Instead, the Giants are leaving the impression of a club that is not nearly attentive enough in the areas that most reward discipline, and that puts pressure not just on the players but on Posey, Tony Vitello and the rest of the staff to make sure the message finally sticks. [Read more 🡒]