Pirates ace Paul Skenes believes ‘winner’ Tony Vitello able to make jump to MLB

Tony Vitello is entering uncharted territory as he arrives in San Francisco. Vitello, introduced Thursday as the Giants’ new manager, is the first to be hired as an MLB manager straight from college with no prior experience in the pros. As daunting as that might seem to Giants fans, the front office or to Vitello himself, Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, in a recent appearance on CBS Sports HQ, stated he believes Vitello has the juice to succeed in the position.“I think out of all the people that are in college baseball, there are probably three or four that could make the jump to being a major league manager,” Skenes explained. “I think Vitello is one of them. He’s a winner…”  "[Tony Vitello's] sharp, he's a winner." Paul Skenes reacts to former Tennessee baseball coach making the jump to the big leagues pic.twitter.com/K4RpTSJYki — CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 29, 2025 Skenes, the NL Cy Young award favorite, who just completed his second MLB season, faced Vitello and the Tennessee Volunteers twice during his time at LSU. Still fresh out of college, he notes that the jump to...