SJ Giants Series Preview April 21-26 vs. Ontario
Published on April 21, 2026 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
San Jose Giants (11-4) vs Ontario Tower Buzzers (7-7)
Tuesay, April 21 - Sunday, April 26
Excite Ballpark (San Jose, CA)
Video: MiLB.TV/Bally Live
Radio: sjgiants.com
Series Preview w/pitching probables & player bios attached (PDF)
GIANTS MEET TOWER BUZZERS FOR FIRST TIME: The defending California League champion San Jose Giants host the Ontario Tower Buzzers in a six-game series this week at Excite Ballpark. This series marks the first-ever meeting between the Giants and Tower Buzzers. Ontario, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, are in their inaugural season in the California League.
STACKING SERIES WINS: The Giants have opened the regular season with three consecutive series wins. San Jose began the year by taking two of three games in a short series at Stockton before claiming five of six contests from the Visalia Rawhide during their opening homestand. Last week, the Giants continued their strong start by winning four of six at South Division- leading Rancho Cucamonga. The Giants have enjoyed three separate three-game winning streaks already and have yet to lose consecutive games this season. San Jose enters this week with a league-best 11-4 record.
HIGH-SCORING SERIES AHEAD?: The Giants are off to an excellent start at the plate averaging 7.9 runs per game entering the week. Last year, San Jose averaged 6.1 runs per contest, which led the California League and set a team record. This week's series features two of the top hitting groups in the California League as the Tower Buzzers (1st, 8.3 runs/gm) and Giants (3rd) both rank among the top three in the league in runs scored. San Jose is also tops in the league in batting average (.302) and doubles (39) while ranking second in home runs (23).
MALDONADO MASHING: Cam Maldonado is in the midst of an incredible power surge at the plate for the Giants. The San Jose outfielder connected for six home runs over the final four games of last week's series at Rancho Cucamonga to earn California League Player of the Week honors. After not homering in his first nine games of the season, Maldonado blasted his first career homer in last Wednesday's contest against the Quakes. He then homered twice on Thursday for the Giants' first multi-homer game of the year. After taking Friday off, Maldonado returned to action on Saturday with another long ball. He then capped the series with a two-homer game on Sunday. Over the final four games in Rancho, Maldonado was 10-for-17 (.588 AVG) with two doubles, six home runs and 10 RBI's. His six homers overall this season are leading the California League.
WE LIKE THE LONG BALL: The Giants hit a whopping 14 home runs during last week's six-game series at Rancho Cucamonga. Individually, San Jose boasts several players on the California League home run leaderboard this season - Cam Maldonado (1st, 6 HR), Rod Barajas Jr. (T2nd, 4 HR), Jhonny Level (T2nd, 4 HR), Damian Bravo (T6th, 3 HR) and Jeremiah Jenkins (T6th, 3 HR). The Giants enter this week having hit 23 home runs as a team in their first 15 games. Only this week's opponent, Ontario, has hit more home runs in the league with 25 round-trippers.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Giants are off to a 5-1 start at home this season following a dominant 2025 campaign at Excite Ballpark in which the club finished with a 47-21 (.691) record in the South Bay (including the playoffs). San Jose has pitched especially well at home in the early-season fashioning a 3.78 ERA in their first six games at Excite Ballpark compared to a 5.42 team ERA on the road (nine games).
LEVELING UP: Jhonny Level has continued his sizzling start at the plate for the Giants. The 19-year old shortstop, currently rated the #4 prospect in the organization by MLB.com, starts this week with a league-best .412 batting average in 11 games played this season. Level also leads the Cal League in doubles (8) and OPS (1.259) while ranking second in home runs (4), second in hits (21) and third in RBI's (19). He brings a nine-game hitting streak into this week's action having produced multi- hits in six of those nine contests. The youngest player on the Giants roster currently, Level was named the Top MLB Prospect in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League last season.
IN "THE SHOW": While Giants and Dodgers California League affiliates currently are meeting in the South Bay, this week will also see their parent clubs play in a three-game series as San Francisco hosts Los Angeles at Oracle Park Tuesday through Thursday. There are currently seven former San Jose Giants on San Francisco's active roster: Patrick Bailey (2021 San Jose Giant), Heliot Ramos (2019), Landen Roupp (2022), Casey Schmitt (2021), Ryan Walker (2018), Logan Webb (2018) and Keaton Winn (2022).
CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW: The 2025 season was a magical year in the South Bay as the Giants won the California League championship. San Jose posted a league-best 81-51 regular season record - the most wins by a Giants team in 12 years. The Giants earned a trip to the playoffs after winning the first half North Division title marking the sixth straight year that San Jose reached the postseason. The Giants then swept both the Fresno Grizzlies (2-0) in the North Division Series and Inland Empire 66ers (2-0) in the Championship Series on their way to the league title. San Jose set a team record by averaging 6.1 runs per game during the regular season. In addition to leading the Cal League in runs scored, the Giants boasted the top ERA at 3.50 - the lowest earned run average by a San Jose club in 10 years. The Giants also owned a league-best +251 run differential while their overall record was tops among all 30 Single-A teams.
ON DECK: Following the current series against Ontario, the Giants head back out on the road for a six-game set at Visalia from April 28-May 3. San Jose returns to Excite Ballpark on May 5 for a series against the Fresno Grizzlies.
California League Stories from April 21, 2026
- SJ Giants Series Preview April 21-26 vs. Ontario - San Jose Giants
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
