SJ Giants Series Preview April 7-12 vs. Visalia
Published on April 7, 2026 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
San Jose Giants (2-1) vs Visalia Rawhide (1-2)
Tuesday, April 7 - Sunday, April 12
Excite Ballpark (San Jose, CA)
Video: MiLB.TV/Bally Live
Radio: sjgiants.com
HOME OPENER: The defending California League champion San Jose Giants host the Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks affiliate) this week at Excite Ballpark in their first home series of the season.
SERIES WIN IN STOCKTON: The Giants opened the regular season last week by winning two out of three games in Stockton.
San Jose's 12-8 victory on opening night was the club's first win in a season opener since 2019. The Giants scored a total of 29 runs during the three-game set last week, including a 15-run outburst in the series finale last Saturday. San Jose hit an impressive .295 as a team, connected for four home runs and was 7-for-8 in stolen base attempts during the series. The Giants' top hitters individually in the season-opening series included Jhonny Level (.538 AVG, 7-for-13, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB), Hayden Jatczak (.500 AVG, 4-for-8, 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, 7 BB, .733 OBP) and Rod Barajas Jr. (.455 AVG. 5-for-11, 3 2B, HR, 7 RBI).
On the mound, Giants starting pitchers fashioned a 3.38 ERA in the three games, however the bullpen struggled to a 7.63 ERA with 13 walks in 15 1/3 innings. Dating back to last June, San Jose is 16-2 in their last 18 games versus Stockton.
SAN FRANCISCO AFFILIATION: This year marks San Jose's 38th 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 eight league championships (1998, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2021, 2025) and graduated 250 players to the major leagues.
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.
VILLEGAS RETURNS AS MANAGER: Ydwin Villegas returns for a third season as San Jose's manager in 2026. Villegas has been named California League Manager of the Year in each of his first two seasons as the Giants' skipper after directing the club to the best record in the league in both campaigns (74-57 in 2024, 81-51 in 2025).
Dan Runzler also returns as the Giants' pitching coach. San Jose has led the league in ERA in all four of Runzler's seasons (2022-25) leading the pitching staff.
Newcomers Mike Marjama (hitting coach) and Drew Martinez (fundamentals coach) round out the Giants 2026 staff. See page 2 for more information on San Jose's coaching staff.
SCHEDULE NOTES: The Giants will once again play a 132-game regular season schedule made up primarily of six-game series' against one opponent every week. The season is split into two 66-game halves (first half concludes on June 18). 72 of San Jose's 132 games will be played against North Division rivals: 24 games each against the Fresno Grizzlies, Stockton Ports and Visalia Rawhide. The Giants' remaining 60 games are versus South Division clubs (Inland Empire 66ers, Lake Elsinore Storm, Ontario Tower Buzzers and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes). Two teams from each division will qualify for the playoffs (first half winner & second half winner). If the same team wins both halves, the next-best second half record qualifies for the postseason.
TOP PROSPECTS: Four of the current top 30 San Francisco Giants prospects according to MLB.com open the season in San Jose. Highlighting the group is #4 prospect Jhonny Level - a 19-year old middle infielder. Level was named the top overall prospect in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League by Baseball America last season. He hit .288 with nine home runs, 38 RBI's and 17 stolen bases in 58 games for the ACL Giants before a late-season promotion to San Jose (.236 AVG, 3 HR in 31 games with the Giants). Level is the youngest player on San Jose's opening day roster. Other top 30 prospects beginning the year in San Jose include pitchers Keyner Martinez (#11) and Argenis Cayama (#13) along with infielder Lorenzo Meola
(#19). Martinez was the AZ Complex League Pitcher of the Year in 2025 (1.90 ERA, 67 SO in 47 IP) while Cayama also earned Complex League All-Star honors (2.25 ERA, 55 SO in 48 IP). The duo both joined San Jose late last season. Meola was San Francisco's fourth round draft pick last July and saw action in 16 games with the SJ Giants late in the year (.273 AVG, 3 HR).
WELCOME BACK: Seven of the 13 position players on San Jose's opening day roster have prior experience with the Giants: infielders Jeremiah Jenkins, Jhonny Level, Lorenzo Meola & Dario Reynoso, outfielder Cam Maldonado and catchers Fernando Gonzalez & Daniel Rogers. Level, Meola and Maldonado all played in San Jose's championship-clinching game last September. Additionally, 10 of the 16 pitchers on the opening day roster have previously played for San Jose: Dylan Carter, Argenis Cayama, Ricardo Estrada, Mauricio Estrella, Alix Hernandez, Keyner Martinez, Ubert Mejias, JT Perez, Melvin Pineda & Fernando Vasquez.
ON DECK: Following the current series against Visalia, the Giants travel to Southern California for a six-game set versus the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Angels affiliate) from April 14-19. The Giants return to Excite Ballpark on Tuesday, April 21 for a series against new Dodgers affiliate, the Ontario Tower Buzzers.
SERIES SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS Date Time Giants Pitcher Rawhide Pitcher Broadcast Tuesday, April 7 6:00 PM RHP Keyner Martinez (0-0, ---) LHP Wilkin Paredes (0-0, ---) sjgiants.com/MiLB.TV Wednesday, April 8 6:00 PM RHP Cody Delvecchio (0-0, 0.00) RHP Jesus Escobar (0-0, ---) sjgiants.com/MiLB.TV Thursday, April 9 6:00 PM LHP Jordan Gottesman (0-0, 0.00) RHP Daury Vasquez (0-0, ---) sjgiants.com/MiLB.TV Friday, April 10 7:00 PM RHP Argenis Cayama (0-0, 9.82) RHP Chung-Hsiang Huang (0-0, 0.00) sjgiants.com/MiLB.TV Saturday, April 11 5:00 PM LHP Braydon Risley (1-0, 0.00) RHP Junior Ciprian (0-0, 4.50) sjgiants.com/MiLB.TV Sunday, April 12 1:00 PM LHP Ricardo Estrada (1-0, 13.50) RHP Mervin Fell (0-1, 18.00) sjgiants.com/MiLB.TV
California League Stories from April 7, 2026
- SJ Giants Series Preview April 7-12 vs. Visalia - San Jose Giants
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