Tony Vitello will be tasked with finding a new pitching coach after J.P. Martinez elected to leave the organization and join the Atlanta Braves as the team’s bullpen coach.
Martinez, 43, spent just one season as San Francisco’s pitching coach after Bryan Price stepped down after the 2024 season. Price, too, only spent one year as pitching coach under former manager Bob Melvin.
Prior to becoming pitching coach, Martinez spent four seasons as San Francisco’s assistant pitching coach. In 2025, the Giants finished 10th in ERA in the majors and sent three pitchers — Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Randy Rodríguez — to the All-Star Game.
While Martinez is departing the organization, Jayce Tingler will reportedly be joining Vitello’s coaching staff, likely as a bench coach.
Vitello and Tingler were teammates at Missouri, and Tingler’s experience at the major-league level should be invaluable as Vitello navigates his first professional season. Along with managing the San Diego Padres for two seasons, Tingler has been a coach for both the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins.
Martinez is not the only departure from last year’s coaching staff as bench coach Ryan Christenson and third-base coach Matt Williams will not return for the 2026 season. On Wednesday, the Athletics announced that Christenson would become the team’s third-base coach.
Following Martinez’s departure, Vitello will have to decide if he wants to look internally or externally to fill the vacancy. One strong internal option is Garvin Alston, who has been the team’s bullpen coach for the last two seasons and been with the organization since 2020.
Alston has two decades of professional coaching experience dating back to his time with the Oakland A’s, serving as the Minnesota Twins’ pitching coach for one season in 2018. Alston has also served as the bullpen coach at the major-league level for the Arizona Diamondbacks (’16) and A’s (’17).
Giants claim outfielder, left-handed reliever off waivers
The Giants announced several roster moves on Thursday, designating right-hander Mason Black for assignment and claiming outfielder Justin Dean (Dodgers) and left-hander Reiver Sanmartin (Reds) off waivers.
Dean, 28, just won a World Series title with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a defense-first backup outfielder, his main “highlight” of the series being when he raised his arms to signal that Addison Barger’s line drive got wedged in the outfield wall.
A 17th-round pick by Atlanta in 2018, Dean made his major-league debut this season with the Dodgers after spending seven seasons in the minors. Over 689 career minor-league games, Dean has a career .252 batting average and .724 OPS with 39 homers and 239 steals.
Sanmartin, 29, has pitched over parts of four major-league seasons, owning a career 5.66 ERA over 84 1/3 innings. The left-hander missed all of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July ’23.