Spanish
SAN FRANCISCO. – The San Francisco Giants announced this Friday the reassignment of Dominican Héctor Borg within the organization's player development department, ending his time as third base coach of the Major League team.
The decision was communicated hours before the game against the Colorado Rockies and comes amid a complicated start to the season for the Giants, marked by multiple errors in base running.
On an interim basis, the experienced Ron Wotus will assume the duties of third base coach while the organization defines a permanent replacement.
One of the most recent episodes that accelerated the change occurred during the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, when Willy Adames was put out at the plate after receiving the signal to advance from third base on a hit by Luis Arráez. San Francisco ended up losing that game 3-2.
Before Wednesday's defeat against Arizona, the Giants had accumulated 18 outs on the bases, one of the highest figures in Major League Baseball this season. In addition, they had been retired seven times at the plate.
The leader Tony Vitello recently acknowledged that the team needed to reinforce fundamental aspects of base running and execute game situations with greater discipline. "I think some of those things need to be reviewed more, both mentally and physically, with repetitions," expressed the first-year leader. Borg was part of the Giants organization for more than two decades. He signed as an international free agent in the Dominican Republic in 2004 and, after concluding his playing career in 2008, began an extensive career in development and training within the club's minor league system. The Dominican had been integrated into the Major League coaching staff this season, after receiving the support of general manager Zack Minasian and manager Vitello. "Can we hire that guy?" Minasian recalled Vitello asking after meeting Borg during the process of forming the technical staff. During spring training, Borg described himself as an aggressive coach at third base, a characteristic that ultimately ended up generating questions amid the team's problems. "I've always been an aggressive coach," Borg stated in February. Now, the Giants will seek to reorganize their technical structure while trying to correct the flaws that have affected their performance this season.
