Pencils down

Giants 6, Phillies 0

Tony Vitello’s first test is here.

At the center of it is two players, one with two Gold Gloves and the other with two career starts. Patrick Bailey and Daniel Susac. Who plays, Tony V?

This is only a question at all because of Susac’s historic start at the plate. His first two hits on Tuesday made him the first player since 1960 to start his career 5 for 5. He did, finally, make an out. And then he hit a two-run triple.

That’s six hits across two games, something Bailey’s never done in his three-plus years. What’s worse is that Bailey is 4 for 31 (.129) this season with one RBI and no extra-base hits. He’s a career .227 hitter.

We know Bailey is a defense-first player.

We know how badly the Giants have struggled to score.

We know Vitello’s reluctance to use his bench. (Christian Koss still hasn’t taken an at-bat in two weeks.)

We know Buster Posey probably has an opinion or three about his catchers.

Pool together all of this information, and what do you do? I’m starting to split playing time evenly. Vitello, though? He’s shown a willingness to mess with his lineup but not his starters.

Time to put his beliefs to the test.

Up next: A little afternoon baseball to decide the series. It’ll be Tyler Mahle against Aaron Nola at 12:45 pm.