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SAN FRANCISCO — Joining the Giants wasn’t a hard sell for new offensive coordinator James Rowson.
“What’s not to like?” Rowson said during a Zoom presence with reporters on Friday. “When I look at the position and talk to him [president of baseball operations] Buster [Posey] and I spoke [manager] Tony [Vitello], [there was] excitement [about] what this group is capable of. To look away and see the veteran presence in this club, as well as the youth in this club – it’s a great situation offensively. I am looking forward to it.”
Rowson, 50, was officially named to Vitello’s coaching staff on Thursday, filling the void left by Hunter Mensen, who served as the Giants’ hitting coach for one season before being hired by his hometown Royals earlier this month.
Rowson has spent the past three seasons as the Yankees’ hitting coach, though he has been offered a more ambitious job title with the Giants, as he will oversee all production efforts, including hitting instruction, game planning and base running.
The offensive coordinator position is more commonly associated with football, although a handful of baseball teams have begun adopting the name to better reflect the breadth of responsibilities a hitting coach can have.
“I always felt like the NFL was a good model for that,” Rowson said. “In the NFL, they have running backs coaches, they have wide receivers coaches. They have individual field coaches, but at the end of the day, they have an offensive coordinator trying to bring it all together, trying to figure out what’s the best way for us to go down there and score as a club. It’s focused on scoring, and I can feel it like baseball.”
Vitello said he felt a philosophical fit with Rowson from the start, which gave him confidence the Giants had found the right man to mold the club’s attacking personality.
“Being able to manage the big stars, being in a big market, being in the game for a long time, aside from the incredible feedback from the players, I think what’s really been the focus for us or what’s been highlighted in the conversations is how fit everyone is,” Vitello said.
The Giants are still expected to hire another hitting coach to go along with Rowson and Oscar Bernard, who returns for his third season as an assistant hitting coach.
Under Rowson, the Yankees led the Majors in hits with 237 and 274 in 2024 and ’25, respectively, and tied for second with 223 in ’26.
Even with veteran hitters such as Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames, the Giants struggled to find a consistent rhythm at the plate, finishing 20th in homers (178), 26th in runs scored (669), 29th in on-base percentage (.306) and 3402nd.
“I think my job is to come in and get to know the guys,” Rowson said. “Meet the players, go in and have some conversations and see where they’re at. Get their thoughts on the year, where they’ve played well, where they feel we can improve.
“Once we start building that, we can kind of take steps to move forward. But I can say this: These guys have good experience. These guys are really big league power players. They’ve made it at this level. They know what they’re doing. They’ve played well. They’ve got a feel for this league, so I’m excited to know what they’re thinking and what they’re doing.”
Rowson plans to spend the rest of the month in touch with his new group of strikers, although he knows there may be a short window to begin building those relationships, with club officials likely to be unable to communicate with players until after the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on December 1.
Rowson said he was especially eager to meet 22-year-old first baseman Bryce Eldridge, who was named National League Rookie of the Year after hitting .269 with an .825 OPS and 17 home runs in 107 games this season.
“He’s a monster, isn’t he?” Rowson said. “I’m excited to get to know him and work with him and see how he thinks. … I’m excited about this roster. There’s a lot of good guys on this roster. A lot of guys who understand the game. There’s young talent. There’s speed. There’s power. There’s offense. I expect a lot from this team to be an exciting player.” Working with all of them, but Bryce, to see him step up and do what he’s done in his rookie year is pretty phenomenal for a young kid.