After two decades with Giants, Hector Borg gets huge role on Tony Vitello staff

SCOTTSDALE — It wasn’t until the Friday before the start of spring training that the Giants officially announced Tony Vitello’s coaching staff. The new boss wanted to be thorough and make sure every potential blind spot was covered. But when it came to hiring his third base coach, the process moved at lightning speed.Vitello and members of the front office hopped on a Zoom call with Hector Borg in November as the longtime team employee was coaching in the Dominican Republic. Borg tried to convey what he has done in coaching and how passionate he is about helping young players. But mostly, he tried his best to be authentic with Vitello. “I can remember getting off the Zoom and I don’t even know if it was five seconds and Tony was like, ‘Can we hire that guy?'” general manager Zack Minasian said recently, laughing. If you spend about five seconds talking to or observing Borg, it’s not hard to see what intrigued Vitello. Borg, 40, is overflowing with energy and passion and is known within the organization as a tireless worker. He has been tied to Ron Washington all spring, and the two very much appear to be built the same way.After Vitello was hired, Buster Posey and Minasian presented him with a short list of internal candidates for his staff. It was no surprise to longtime Giants that Vitello and Borg hit it off right away, but there was quite a bit of relief. As that list was being put together, there was a strong belief that if the Giants didn’t finally put him on their big-league staff, it wouldn’t be more than another year or two before another organization did. Vitello did more than just choose Borg. He put him in one of the most prominent spots, and the one that will get the most scrutiny over 162 games. There will be nights when, fair or not, Borg is the biggest story because of a decision to either send or hold a runner in a close game. After a season during which the Giants didn’t do particularly well in that department, the spotlight will be even brighter.If Borg is losing any sleep over the upcoming decisions, it isn’t showing. He flashed a wide grin and leaded in towards reporters earlier this week when asked about his style.“I’m an aggressive third base coach,” he said. “I’ve always been that way.”Naturally, Vitello is on board with that plan. His Tennessee teams were always on the attack, and he and Posey have made it clear in recent months that they intend for the Giants to try and ruffle some feathers. If there’s a split-second decision to be made on Opening Night, Vitello wants his third base coach to be pumping those arms as hard as he can.For him, it’s simple. He wants his coaches to be prepared and take ownership of their responsibilities. But at third base in particular, he also noted this week that fans simply want to see teams score.“I think you’d rather err on the side of being aggressive and then pull back,” Vitello said. “As opposed to tiptoeing around and not knowing.”Borg considers Joe Amalfitano a mentor and has regular discussions with Ron Wotus. He spends every day with Washington, who was the third base coach when the Atlanta Braves won the World Series in 2021, and hopes to learn some tricks — as well as some guitar tips — from Tim Flannery. But Borg also will lean heavily on his own experiences. He signed with the Giants out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager and played 83 games — mostly as a second baseman — in the minors before becoming a coach in 2008. Borg has been at it so long, and in so many places, that two of the Giants affiliates he coached for no longer exist. Over the past two seasons, he was the complex coordinator for Giants minor leaguers in Arizona.Those years in the minors gave Borg plenty of reps, and he coached third for seven years in the Dominican Winter League. Overall, Borg has 17 years of experience in the Dominican and he managed his nation’s team to a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Had Borg not been promoted to the big-league staff, he would have spent part of this spring assisting DR manager Albert Pujols at the World Baseball Classic.Borg was in the Dominican when he found out that the initial Zoom made such a strong impression. He got back to the clubhouse one night and saw he had a missed call from Minasian. He immediately called back. After two decades in the organization, he was headed to the big leagues. And there might have been nearly as much excitement on the other end of the phone. “It’s one of the things about being in this position that’s so much fun — calling someone and being able to offer that opportunity and hearing their reaction,” Minasian said. “I almost feel selfish that I get to enjoy it because there are so many people that vouched for him and believed in him. “He’s a Giant. I really couldn’t be happier for him and happier for us because I think he’s going to do a great job.”Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

After two decades with Giants, Hector Borg gets huge role on Tony Vitello staff

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