SF Giants’ Vitello defends Adames following viral clip from Apple TV broadcast

SAN DIEGO — Manager Tony Vitello took several minutes before Saturday’s game against the San Diego Padres to passionately defend shortstop Willy Adames, whose work ethic was criticized on Friday night’s Apple TV broadcast.

During Friday’s 7-0 loss, Apple TV play-by-play broadcaster Wayne Randazzo praised infield coach Ron Washington for his work with Luis Arraez, who has been one of baseball’s best defensive second basemen this year. Randazzo then pivoted to Adames, who didn’t receive such glowing marks.

“Wash 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,” Randazzo said on Friday. “He said you could see the improvements. Tony Vitello even said that whenever you see Adames and Wash work one-on-one, for the next two or three games, Adames is a much better defensive player.”

Vitello did not mention Randazzo or the Apple TV broadcast, but the Giants’ rookie manager took umbrage with the accusation.

“Any questioning of anyone’s work ethic that has to work with Wash is not right,” Vitello said. “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 [expletive] is what it is.”

Vitello continued: “Anyone who’s around Wash, you don’t have a chance to buy in. That’s not an option — you do. Then, the work is put in.”

When Vitello was asked if it was the broadcast that struck a nerve with him, the Giants’ rookie manager said he didn’t want to know what was said, indicating he felt “someone put words in my mouth.”

“I don’t think I’ve won manager of the year for standing up for our players, but again, the effort’s there, or the attitude’s there,” Vitello said. “And if it’s a case where somebody’s not worthy of that, I’m not going to put myself out there and do that. I’ve been victim of being too honest with groups like this. What’s right is right, and what’s not is not.

“And then you get goofy situations that come up, you guys have got to find different avenues to take it. But most of them are pretty basic. This happened, so now we have this going on, and that’s the case.”

Adames, 30, has graded out as one of the worst defensive shortstops in baseball. Entering Saturday, Adames has been worth -12 outs above average (a range-based stat), the second-fewest in the majors behind only the Washington Nationals’ CJ Abrams (-13).

Those poor defensive numbers might be due in part to a back ailment that Adames has battled at times this year, which has impacted his ability to work with Washington.

“If you’re going to break down our infielders as it relates to time they invest … your first answer would be Bryce [Eldridge] would be number one because he’s the youngest and he’s also learning a position he’s never really played,” Vitello said. “Then, you slide over to second base and a guy that is adamant about showing the league he can do what he’s shown he can do, because [the Padres] labeled him a first baseman.

“So, when I’m asked about the left side of the infield, those are two guys that have played those positions their whole career. [Matt Chapman and Adames] are veterans. … Early on, you guys have grilled me about workload for those two guys as far as playing in games, so why would it come out about the other — it doesn’t make sense.”

Adames is also in the midst of one of the worst offensive seasons of his career, entering Saturday posting career-lows in on-base percentage (.280), OPS (.701) and walk rate (6.6%). According to Vitello, those struggles aren’t for a lack of swings.

“Willy probably works harder than any offensive player we have on his swing. If anything, he could maybe even deduct a couple swings. And that’s not a jab; it’s more of a compliment into that category,” Vitello said.