SJ Giants Series Preview: April 15-20 at Rancho Cucamonga
April 15, 2025 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
San Jose Giants (6-3) at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (5-4)
Tuesday, April 15 - Sunday, April 20
LoanMart Field (Rancho Cucamonga, CA)
Video: MiLB.TV/Bally Live
Radio: Rancho Cucamonga Radio Feed
TRIP TO RANCHO: The San Jose Giants are back on the road this week for their first Southern California trip of the season when they take on the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers affiliate) at LoanMart Field. This series marks the first of two visits to Rancho Cucamonga this year as the Quakes will also host the Giants from June 3-8.
PERFECT HOMESTAND: The Giants bounced back from getting swept in Modesto to open the season with a perfect 6-0 homestand against the visiting Visalia Rawhide last week at Excite Ballpark. The Giants scored a total of 47 runs during the six-game set (7.8 runs per game) and hit seven homers. San Jose posted double-digit run totals in three of the six games. The Giants also shined on the mound last week fashioning a 2.33 team ERA. Included in the sweep was the Giants' largest comeback victory of the early-season as San Jose rallied from an early 4-0 deficit last Saturday scoring 11 unanswered runs to win by an 11-4 margin. It was the Giants' first sweep of a six-game series since June 21-26, 2022 at Stockton.
POWER SURGE: The Giants have hit eight home runs over their first nine games of the season to lead the California League. Individually, Drew Cavanaugh has homered a league-best three times in only 21 at-bats. Jakob Christian has also homered twice. Cavanaugh and Christian are two of the six players in the California League entering the week with multiple home runs this season.
WINNING STREAK: The Giants enter this week riding a six-game winning streak. It's the Giants' longest win streak since last year's team claimed eight straight victories from April 25-May 3.
SAN FRANCISCO AFFILIATION: This year marks San Jose's 37th season as an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants - the longest current partnership in the California League. Since their inception in 1988, the San Jose Giants have won seven league championships (1998, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2021) and graduated 247 players to the major leagues.
VILLEGAS RETURNS AS MANAGER: Ydwin Villegas returns for a second season at the helm of the San Jose Giants after earning California League Manager of the Year honors in 2024. Prior to becoming the Giants' manager last year, Villegas was San Jose's fundamentals coach in 2023 following three seasons as fundamentals coach for the SF Giants' rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate from 2020-22. Villegas spent his entire seven-year playing career in the Giants system, including stints with San Jose during the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons. See page 2 for coaching staff bios.
TOP PROSPECTS: Eight of the current top 30 San Francisco Giants prospects according to MLB.com opened the season in San Jose. Highlighting the group is #6 prospect Dakota Jordan - a fourth round pick in last year's draft. Jordan, an outfielder, is off to a strong start this season batting a team-best .346 (9-for-26) in eight games with one double, one triple, one home run and seven RBI's. He's also walked nine times and boasts a .514 on-base percentage. Other top 30 prospects on San Jose's roster include: pitcher Gerelmi Maldonado (#17), shortstop Walker Martin (#22), pitcher Jacob Bresnahan (#24), outfielder Lisbel Diaz (#25), first baseman Jakob Christian (#28), third baseman Robert Hipwell (#29) and outfielder Jose Ortiz (#30).
Diaz brings an eight-game hitting streak into this week's series against Rancho Cucamonga.
WELCOME BACK: 12 of the 13 position players on San Jose's opening day roster have prior experience with the Giants: infielders Jakob Christian, Robert Hipwell, Walker Martin, Jose Ramos, Elian Rayo, Ryan Reckley and Jean Carlos Sio, outfielders Lisbel Diaz, Dakota Jordan and Jose Ortiz along with catchers Drew Cavanaugh and Juan Perez. Only six of the 17 pitchers on the opening day roster have previously played for San Jose: Jacob Bresnahan, Junior Flores, Cole Hillier, Gerelmi Maldonado, Ubert Mejias and Cameron Pferrer.
2024 REVIEW: The Giants finished with a league-best 74-57 overall record last season and qualified for the playoffs after winning the second half North Division title. It was the first time in 11 years (2013) that San Jose posted the top overall record in the California League. The Giants were then swept two-games-to-none by eventual league champion Modesto in the North Division Series. The Giants went 37-29 in the second half last season and went wire-to-wire spending the entire half in first place. San Jose actually had a slightly better record in the first half (37-28), but finished 4 1/2 games behind Modesto for the top spot in the division. The Giants started the year slow with a 5-11 record through April 24, but then went a remarkable 52- 24 (.684) over the next three months from April 25-July 25. It was the fifth consecutive season (2019, 2021-24) that the Giants reached the playoffs. San Jose excelled on the mound last year as the Giants led the California League in team ERA for a fourth straight season (2021-24).
BROADCAST INFORMATION: 120 of San Jose's 132 games are scheduled to be broadcast on sjgiants.com and the MiLB App this season. Audio broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to first pitch with Joe Ritzo and Justin Allegri calling the action.
Additionally, a live video broadcast on MiLB.TV will be available for all 66 home games this season. The Giants will not have radio coverage for this week's series in Rancho Cucamonga.
ON DECK: Following the current series in Rancho Cucamonga, the Giants return to Excite Ballpark for a six-game set against the Fresno Grizzlies beginning on Tuesday, April 22.
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California League Stories from April 15, 2025
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- SJ Giants Series Preview: April 15-20 at Rancho Cucamonga - San Jose Giants
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