It was announced yesterday that Bryan Price would be stepping down as pitching coach of the SF Giants. It was then reported that assistant pitching coach JP Martinez would become the new pitching coach.
The Giants had an opportunity to potentially hire a franchise legend for the role, but they decided against it by hiring Martinez.
When it was first reported that Price would be stepping down and before the reporting that Martinez would succeed him, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic (subscription required) identified two franchise legends in Ryan Vogelsong and Javier Lopez as potential replacements for Price.
SF Giants go with internal option over franchise legends for pitching coach
Alex Pavlovic also floated Vogelsong as a potential replacement, noting that he was in the running to become pitching coach last season when Bob Melvin took over as manager.
Vogelsong became a legend thanks to his career resurgence with the Giants in 2011 and the contributions he made during both the 2012 and 2014 postseasons.
Vogelsong is listed on the team’s website as a “roving pitching instructor” and has served in that capacity for several years so he has spent time with the homegrown pitchers currently on the big league roster like Logan Webb and Kyle Harrison.
He certainly would have made sense in the role as someone who is beloved by Giants fans while also having a friendship with the new president of baseball operations, Buster Posey.
Lopez would have been another nostalgic option. As a key member of the “Core Four” in the bullpen that was the backbone of all three championship runs in the 2010’s he is beloved by Giants fans. In recent years he has been the color commentator on some Giants broadcasts when Mike Krukow is unable to call the game. He lacks the same coaching experience as Vogelsong though so it may have been too much of a jump for him.
Nonetheless, Martinez is very deserving of the promotion as he has been a key part of the team’s pitching coaching staff for several years now. He is someone the staff can relate to and is familiar with which is important.
The nostalgia of having Vogelsong or Lopez in the dugout next year would have been awesome, but it seems like the Giants are getting a good replacement for Price in Martinez.
