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The Yankees spoiled Tony Vitello’s debut as San Francisco Giants manager.

Logan Webb hardly looked like himself in the San Francisco Giants‘ season opener Wednesday night. But rookie MLB manager Tony Vitello saw the New York Yankees take a unique tactic to unsettle the Giants ace.

Vitello opened up about Webb’s struggles and why he got touched up for six earned runs in just five innings in the Giants’ 7-0 loss to the Yankees on opening night at Oracle Park.

Webb is coming off a huge year, where he won 15 games and led the majors in innings pitched (207). But he was roughed up by the Yankees’ solid offense, surrendering nine hits and seven runs while striking out seven — including three fans to two-time-reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge.

The Yankees Picked on Logan Webb Early in Counts

Webb seemed hellbent on throwing strikes early in the count, and the Yankees ambushed him Wednesday. Webb only threw 21 pitches during Yankees’ five-run second inning, which effectively put the game to bed, and allowed five straight Yankees to reach in a span of 10 pitches — he gave up hits on three straight pitches.

“He was attacking, and they were attacking him,” Vitello said of the Yankees. “They got to him early in the count a few times and seemed to make a little bit of an adjustment to be more aggressive, but overall he’s a ground-ball pitcher and the ball got elevated a couple of times.”

Webb was hit hard, but did not allow a home run to largely the same lineup that led the majors in homers in 2025 (274). His lone extra-base hit against was a one-out triple to center fielder Trent Grisham that capped the second inning.

“It’s not like those guys were launching balls over the outfielders’ heads or over the fence, but they stacked their hits together,” Vitello said. “Some of those hits came from the bottom of the order too.”

The Yankees Also Spoiled Tony Vitello’s MLB Debut

Aside from spoiling the Giants’ home opener, the Yankees also spoiled Tony Vitello’s first game as a big-league manager.

The Giants made Vitello’s the first person in major-league history to jump directly from college baseball to the majors this offseason. Vitello, of course, was hired after directing the University of Tennessee the past eight seasons and credited the atmosphere at Oracle Park ahead of opening night.

“The fanfare before the game was tremendous,” Vitello said. “It’s tough to take all that in, because you’re doing stuff up until the last minute, but all in all, I think the fans, in that part of the whole deal, got what they signed up for.”

But once the teams took the field, Vitello didn’t like his club’s performance in his debut.

“The club would like a better result,” Vitello said. “The results are going to fluctuate, but a more competitive effort would have been better.”

Still, with the fan fare and chaos of the season opener now in the rearview mirror, Vitello is excited to start again in Friday’s second game against the Yankees.

“It’s chaos once the game gets started,” Vitello said. “It’s good to have a rep of being in the dugout and having some of those conversations you have with coaches as the game’s going on.”

Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens