SJ Giants North Division Series Preview vs. Fresno Grizzlies
Published on September 9, 2025 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
CALIFORNIA LEAGUE - NORTH DIVISION SERIES PREVIEW
San Jose Giants (81-51) vs Fresno Grizzlies (70-62)
Game 1 - Tuesday, September 9 @ Chukchansi Park (Fresno, CA)
Game 2 - Thursday, September 11 @ Excite Ballpark (San Jose, CA)
*Game 3 - Friday, September 12 @ Excite Ballpark (San Jose, CA)
*if necessary
Video: MiLB.TV/Bally Live
Radio: sjgiants.com
Series Preview w/pitching probables & player bios attached (PDF)
GIANTS, GRIZZLIES MEET IN DIVISION SERIES: The San Jose Giants play the Fresno Grizzlies (Rockies affiliate) this week in the best-of-three North Division Series. Fresno hosts Game 1 on Tuesday night before the series shifts to Excite Ballpark in San Jose for Games 2 and 3 on Thursday and Friday (Game 3 if necessary). The winner advances to the best-of-three California League Championship Series beginning on Sunday.
REGULAR SEASON REVIEW: The Giants finished the regular season with a league-best 81-51 record and qualified for the playoffs after winning the first half North Division title. The 81 regular season wins were the most by a Giants team since 2013 (83-57). San Jose was 24 games above .500 at home this season (45-21) and six games above .500 on the road (36-30). The Giants went 42-24 in the first half and won the division by four games over Modesto. After starting the year 21-19, San Jose won 21 of their final 26 games in the first half to claim the division crown and clinch a playoff berth. The Giants' 39-27 second half record put them two games behind Fresno for the top spot in the North Division. San Jose had a remarkable nearly three- month stretch from May 21 through August 17 in which they posted a 54-20 record (.730) and lost just one out of 14 series'.
The Giants, however, did struggle late in the regular season going just 6-12 in their final 18 games.
LEAGUE LEADERS: The Giants led the California League in several key statistical categories during the regular season, including runs scored (6.1 per game), batting average (.261), home runs (101 - tied), ERA (3.50) and fewest home runs allowed (50). San Jose's run differential of +251 also led the league by a significant margin (Rancho Cucamonga next-closest at +89).
The Giants had the best overall record among all 30 Single-A teams this season (California League, Carolina League, Florida State League).
FAMILIAR FOE: The Giants and Grizzlies met 24 times during the regular season with San Jose holding a slight 13-11 head- to-head advantage. San Jose went 9-3 against Fresno during the first half on their way to the division title, but were just 4-8 versus the Grizzlies in the second half. Fresno won five of six games at Excite Ballpark from August 19-24 during the final meeting of the regular season between the two teams.
PLAYOFF HISTORY: The Giants are in the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season (2019, 2021-25) - the longest active streak in the California League. Since 2004, the Giants have reached the playoffs an impressive 18 times out of 21 seasons. San Jose last won a league championship in 2021 when they swept Fresno in the best-of-five Championship Series. However, the Giants have not won a playoff game since their 2021 championship clinching victory. San Jose has been swept two-games-to- none in the last three North Division Series' (2022 by Fresno, 2023 and 2024 by Modesto). Since their inception in 1988, the San Jose Giants have won seven league championships (1998, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2021).
DE LA TORRE GETS GAME 1 NOD, BRESNAHAN IN GAME 2: Luis De La Torre is the Giants' scheduled starting pitcher for Game 1 of the Division Series on Tuesday night. De La Torre excelled with the Giants after joining the team on July 6 from the rookie-level Arizona Complex League. In eight starts for San Jose during the regular season, De La Torre fashioned a 1.77 ERA with 47 strikeouts and only 11 walks over 35 2/3 innings. He also limited the opposition to a .173 batting average. De La Torre allowed no earned runs in five of his eight starts.
Jacob Bresnahan, a Pitcher of the Year candidate in the California League this season, will get the ball in Game 2 on Thursday night at Excite Ballpark. Bresnahan spent the entire season with San Jose and posted a 2.61 ERA over 22 starts. He struck out 124 batters in 93 innings and had a stellar .201 opponents batting average. Bresnahan ranked first in the league in wins (9) and third in strikeouts. From June 1 through the end of the regular season, Bresnahan was 9-1 with a 1.62 ERA over 13 starts. Giants starting pitchers owned a league-best 3.03 ERA during the regular season (Rancho Cucamonga next at 3.74).
HITTING NOTES: The Giants set a team record this season by averaging 6.1 runs per game (previous record was 5.9 runs/game held by the 2021 championship team). San Jose though scored only 3.8 runs per contest over their final 18 games of the regular season. Standouts among players who spent the entire season with the Giants included Lisbel Diaz, who led the Cal League in hits (139) and doubles (32) this year while also ranking third in RBI's (72). Diaz hit .304 with seven home runs in the second half (62 games) after batting only .234 with three homers in the first half (60 games).
Walker Martin was fifth in the league in RBI's (70) and sixth in home runs (12) while Robert Hipwell finished third in doubles (28), sixth in RBI's (66) and eighth in home runs (11) to go with the fourth-best OPS among qualifying hitters (.824). Among recent additions to the club, 2025 third round pick Trevor Cohen batted .327 with a .438 on-base percentage in 28 games played for the Giants.
2025 fourth round selection Lorenzo Meola hit .400 over his final seven regular season games with two home runs in 30 at- bats. 18-year old shortstop Jhonny Level was named the top prospect in the Arizona Complex League this season and batted .236 with three home runs in 31 games for the Giants after a promotion on July 31. San Jose also added catcher Diego Cartaya
during the final week of the regular season. Cartaya, who signed with San Francisco as a minor league free agent in July, combined to hit .278 with 19 home runs and 62 RBI's in 64 games with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes over the 2021 and 2022 seasons while a member of the Dodgers organization.
ODDS AND ENDS: The Giants hit .281 as a team and averaged 7.2 runs per game at home this season compared to a .241 AVG and 5.0 runs per contest on the road ...
Cade Vernon finished the regular season with a team-best seven saves and had a 0.52 ERA (2 ER/34.2 IP) over his last 23 appearances dating back to June 5 ...
Ryan Slater also excelled out of the bullpen late in the year tossing 10 straight scoreless innings to finish the regular season (2 H, 14 SO) ... The Giants were 56-17 (.767) when scoring first in a game during the regular season compared to 25-34 (.424) when their opponent scored first ... 66 players saw action for the Giants during the regular season ... 11 players on the current roster have been with the team for the entire season (Bresnahan, Diaz, Dryden, Gray, Hipwell, G. Maldonado, Martin, Mazza, Ju. Perez, Slater, Vernon).
California League Stories from September 9, 2025
- SJ Giants North Division Series Preview vs. Fresno Grizzlies - San Jose Giants
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