Giants Reassign Third Base Coach Hector Borg
The Giants announced they’ve reassigned third base coach Hector Borg to a different role in player development. Ron Wotus will handle the role on an interim basis while the team searches for a full-time replacement.
Borg, 40, is an organizational lifer who has been employed by the Giants since 2008. He also managed his native Dominican Republic for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. After nearly two decades working with minor leaguers, Borg was promoted to the MLB staff for the first time last offseason. He had no previous ties to first-year skipper Tony Vitello but is clearly highly regarded in the organization.
Unfortunately, Borg’s time as a third base coach was largely unsuccessful. The Giants have had a handful of runners cut down at home or between second and third base this season. Arguably the worst came on Wednesday, when the Diamondbacks easily nabbed Willy Adames at the plate with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Adames represented the tying run in what would turn out to be a 3-2 loss.
The running game as a whole has been a major issue for the Giants. Statcast grades them alongside the Angels as the worst overall baserunning teams in MLB. Their 14 stolen bases are easily the lowest in the league. That certainly doesn’t all fall on one coach, but it’s clear the Giants felt some kind of change was necessary. A third base coach’s responsibilities go far beyond making the send/hold decision during games, so the Giants will keep Borg around in a player development capacity with which he’s previously had success.
Wotus has ample coaching experience under various Giants managers going back to the 1990s. He retired from full-time coaching after the 2021 season and has spent the past four-plus years in a special assistant role. The 65-year-old seemingly doesn’t want to commit to the daily responsibilities of being a permanent coach but will get back in the dugout as a stopgap. Wotus handled third base coaching for a few days last week while Borg was away from the team to attend a family funeral.
Giants Finalize 2026 Coaching Staff
The Giants officially announced Tony Vitello’s first major league coaching staff on Friday afternoon. Although much of the staff had been previously reported, the team revealed the promotions of Shane Robinson and Hector Borg as their respective base coaches.
Robinson, 41, takes over as the first base coach. He was a depth outfielder who played parts of nine MLB seasons. He retired from playing after the 2021 season and jumped into a coaching role in the San Diego farm system. Robinson also worked for the Mets before taking a minor league outfield/baserunning coach job with the Giants last year. This is his first stint on a major league staff.
The 40-year-old Borg — the team’s new third base coach — is also an internal promotion. He’s an organizational lifer who played four seasons in the minors before moving into coaching in 2008. Borg has had various roles with the team’s affiliates over the past decade and a half. He also managed his native Dominican Republic at the Tokyo Olympics five years ago. This is his first job on a big league staff. Enrique Rojas of ESPN first reported that Borg would join the MLB staff in an unspecified capacity last month.
The remainder of Vitello’s staff is as follows: bench coach Jayce Tingler, hitting coach Hunter Mense, pitching coach Justin Meccage, director of pitching Frank Anderson, assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard, assistant pitching coach Christian Wonders, bullpen coach Jesse Chavez, infield coach Ron Washington, field coordinator/catching coach Alex Burg, quality control coach Taira Uematsu, and bullpen catcher Eliezer Zambrano. Bernard, Uematsu, Zambrano and Burg are holdovers from Bob Melvin’s staff — though Burg was promoted to the field coordinator role in addition to his previous catching duties.