MILWAUKEE — Less than a week after removing Hector Borg as their third base coach, the Giants announced on Tuesday afternoon that longtime coach, former player and Oakland native Gary Pettis will take over the position.

Pettis will join the team in Milwaukee on Wednesday. He’ll debut as San Francisco’s third base coach when the Giants take on the Cubs in Chicago beginning on Friday.

“He really knows a good host of our other players and has interacted with them one way or another,” said manager Tony Vitello, “but ultimately, the key piece there is it’s about impossible to argue with his reputation in baseball, and in particular, his experience at third base.”

Pettis, 68, was born in Oakland and attended Castlemont High School and Laney College. The former outfielder played 11 seasons in the majors from 1982-1992, winning five Gold Glove Awards and accumulating 354 stolen bases.

In total, Pettis has 27 years of coaching experience, including 22 years in the majors.

“I really kind of envision it being a good thing because we’re looking for anything that’s kind of a fresh start or a new thing to begin with,” Vitello said. “Just a good point in the season to take a temperature and maybe allow the position guys to tell him where are we, what do we want to be, what we need to do better, what we have not done well — and you could apply that to the whole team as well.”

Pettis’ most recent position was with the Houston Astros as the team’s third base coach from 2015 to 2024, working under Dusty Baker for four of those seasons (2020-2023). Baker, who managed the Giants from 1993-2002, rejoined the Giants before last season as a special adviser.

Before joining Houston, Pettis worked as a base coach for the Rangers for Ron Washington’s entire managerial tenure in Texas from 2007-2014. Under Washington, Pettis spent six seasons as first base coach (2007-2012) and two seasons as third base coach (2013-2014). Washington said that he’s kept in touch with Pettis and that the two still talk at least twice per week.

“We picked up some good experience and some good know-how,” Washington said. “He’s a team player, so I think he’s going to do a good job over there at third base. He’s going to do a tremendous job, really. He sees the game pretty good. He got some stolen base titles, he got some Gold Gloves for being in the outfield, so he’s well-versed.”

Along with his time with the Astros and Rangers, Pettis was the first base coach for the Chicago White Sox (2001-2002) and New York Mets (2003-2004).

Vitello said on Tuesday that he talked to “as many baseball people as possible” before ultimatley landing on Pettis. The Giants’ manager not only consulted Baker and Washington, but former major leaguer Harold Reynolds and outfielder Drew Gilbert, who was a prospect in the Astros’ system when Pettis was the team’s third base coach.

“Colorado, that was about as big of a hotel space as I’ve had, and probably covered every square inch of that on the phone with everybody, including Buster (Posey), Zach (Minasian), and then other options that were available,” Vitello said. “Once we got to a certain point, things started to go pretty fast. I think part of that is because of his excitement level and willingness to do it. There really wasn’t any hesitation from him whatsoever.”

The Giants announced this past Friday that Borg would be reassigned to their player development staff after performing poorly as the team’s third base coach, but Minasian said on Tuesday that the team has yet to determine Borg’s new role.

“He’s still very talented and a good person, so we’d like to see him back helping (player development),” Minasian said.

Borg worked daily with the Giants’ infielders along with Washington, the team’s infield coach. With Borg no longer on staff, Washington said he’s ready for the added responsibility.

“It was tough to see him go, you know what I’m saying? It really was,” Washington said. “He was a good kid, works his butt off. He sure made work easy on me. … I’ve done it all my life, so now my mind is set to do it.”

Ron Wotus, who coached 24 seasons with San Francisco before becoming a special assistant to baseball operations, has served as the team’s interim third base coach since Borg’s removal.

Worth noting

Infielder Christian Koss sustained a left wrist fracture. He’ll be re-examined in two weeks.
Outfielder Grant McCray has a fractured hamate bone in his left wrist. He’ll undergo surgery in Arizona on Thursday.
Right-handed reliever Gregory Santos has a right adductor strain. He’ll miss the next two to three weeks.