The San Francisco Giants continue to reshape their coaching staff under new manager Tony Vitello, and the latest addition brings a fresh voice to the pitching department. Christian Wonders is set to join the club as an assistant pitching coach, adding another layer to a growing group of minds tasked with elevating the Giants’ player development and on-field performance.
Wonders arrives with a résumé that fits the Giants’ forward-thinking approach. He spent time at Cressey Sports Performance - a facility known for its cutting-edge training methods - where he worked as a pitching coordinator for three years.
While not as widely known as Driveline, Cressey operates in the same space: data-driven, biomechanics-heavy pitching development. That kind of background suggests Wonders brings a modern lens to the art of pitching, something the Giants have clearly prioritized in recent hires.
Before this, Wonders spent four seasons as a roving instructor with the San Diego Padres, followed by two years as a minor league pitching coordinator with the Tampa Bay Rays. Both organizations have earned reputations for identifying and developing pitching talent, and Wonders was in the thick of it. His experience in two of the most analytically savvy systems in baseball positions him well to help shape the next wave of Giants arms.
Wonders isn’t the only new face in San Francisco’s revamped staff. Former Padres manager Jayce Tingler is coming aboard as Vitello’s bench coach.
Tingler had been with the Minnesota Twins the past four seasons, serving as bench coach under Rocco Baldelli. When Minnesota parted ways with Baldelli at the end of the 2025 season, Tingler was free to explore other opportunities - and a reunion with Vitello made sense.
The two go back to their college days at the University of Missouri, where they were teammates in the early 2000s. Now, they’ll be side by side in the dugout again, this time with a big-league club.
On the offensive side, Hunter Mense joins the staff after four seasons as an assistant hitting coach with the Toronto Blue Jays. That includes the 2025 campaign, where Toronto made a deep postseason run and reached the World Series before falling to the Dodgers in a hard-fought seven-game series. Mense brings postseason experience and a track record of working with a talented, power-heavy lineup - a valuable asset for a Giants offense that’s looking to find more consistency.
The pitching department also sees the addition of Justin Meccage and Frank Anderson. Meccage has a background as a coach and instructor with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers organizations, while Anderson spent eight years as the pitching coach at the University of Tennessee. While Anderson’s exact role with the Giants hasn’t been specified, he’s expected to serve in a developmental or instructional capacity - a role that plays to his strengths in working with young arms.
Amid all these changes, the Giants have kept a few familiar faces. Assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard and quality control coach Taira Uematsu will remain on staff, providing some continuity as the organization transitions into a new era under Vitello.
It’s clear the Giants are building a staff that blends innovation with experience - a mix of voices from college programs, analytically advanced organizations, and postseason-tested teams. With Wonders now in the fold, San Francisco adds another piece to that puzzle, one that could pay dividends as they look to revamp their pitching pipeline and compete in a loaded NL West.