SJ Giants Series Preview September 2-8 at Fresno
September 2, 2024 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
San Jose Giants @ Fresno Grizzlies
Monday, September 2 - Sunday, September 8
Chukchansi Park
REGULAR SEASON CONCLUDES IN FRESNO: The San Jose Giants close out the regular season this week in Fresno with a six-game set against the Grizzlies (Rockies affiliate) at Chukchansi Park. The series begins with a late-afternoon contest on Labor Day before an off day on Tuesday and then five games Wednesday through Sunday.
SECOND HALF CHAMPS: The Giants officially clinched a playoff berth last Saturday and then secured the second half North Division title on Sunday. It marks the fifth consecutive season that San Jose has reached the playoffs (2019, 2021-24). The Giants have also qualified for the playoffs in 17 out of the last 20 seasons overall dating back to 2004. With six games remaining in the regular season, San Jose owns a 34-26 second half record - seven games ahead of Modesto (27-33), eight games in front of Fresno (26-34) and 15 games ahead of Stockton (19-41) in the North Division. The Giants went wire-to-wire spending the entire second half (June 21-September 8) in first place. San Jose had at least a five-game lead in the division every day since the All-Star break (July 18).
PLAYOFFS NEXT WEEK: The second half champion Giants will play the first half champion Modesto Nuts in the best-of-three North Division Series next week. San Jose will host Game 1 at Excite Ballpark on Tuesday, September 10 at 6:30 PM. Following an off day, the series then shifts to John Thurman Field in Modesto for Games 2 and 3 on Thursday, September 12 and Friday, September 13 respectively (Game 3 if necessary). The two division series winners will then meet in the best-of-three California League Championship Series beginning on Sunday, September 15. This marks the second consecutive year that the Giants will play the Nuts in the postseason. Modesto swept San Jose two-games-to-none in last year's North Division Series on their way to a league championship. The Giants last won a league championship in 2021.
BEST RECORD: The Giants enter the final week of the regular season with a league-best 71-54 overall record (Modesto and Lake Elsinore next-closest at 68-56). The last time San Jose finished with the best overall record in the California League was 11 years ago (2013 season).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK WINNERS: The Giants enjoyed three straight California League Player of the Week award winners last month. Bo Davidson won in back-to-back weeks when he claimed the award following the August 6-11 series at Inland Empire and then after the August 13-18 series against Stockton. Davidson hit .471 (24-for-51) in August with five home runs and 19 RBI's in 15 games. Davidson, however, hasn't played since August 20 and is currently on the 7-day injured list. Lisbel Diaz then won the Player of the Week award following the August 20-25 series at Modesto. Diaz matched a San Jose Giants single-game record with five hits on August 24 against the Nuts and is batting .413 (19-for-46) over his last 10 games. Prior to Davidson, a Giants hitter hadn't won a Player of the Week award this season.
VERSUS THE GRIZZ: San Jose is 15-9 against Fresno this season, including an 8-1 mark in the second half. The Giants dropped their first five head-to-head matchups with the Grizzlies this year, but have gone 15-4 since. San Jose has won both of their previous series' at Chukchansi Park taking four of six games from April 23-28 before sweeping a shortened three-game set coming out of the All-Star break (July 19-21).
LEAGUE-LEADING PITCHING STAFF: During this final week of the regular season, the Giants will be attempting to lead the California League in team ERA for a fourth straight year (2021-24). San Jose boasts a league-best 4.01 ERA - just ahead of Fresno's 4.03. The Giants have also issued the second-fewest walks (3.8 per game) and allowed the second-fewest home runs (72 HR in 125 games) in the league. 15 different Giants pitchers have recorded a save this season. San Jose continues to lead the league in earned run average despite recent struggles on the mound as the club posted a 5.45 ERA in August.
PROSPECT RANKINGS: MLB.com recently re-ranked the top 30 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization and seven current San Jose players are on the list: #4 Dakota Jordan, #7 Walker Martin, #18 Jacob Bresnahan, #20 Robert Hipwell, #21 Jakob Christian, #26 Bo Davidson and #28 Josh Bostick. Martin is the highest-rated shortstop prospect and Hipwell the highest-rated third base prospect in the Giants system according to MLB.com.
POWER SURGE: The Giants had a big month of August hitting the long ball as the club finished with 27 home runs in 27 games. The 27 home runs led the California League (Stockton next-closest with 25 HR). Over their last 19 games since August 11 (11-8 record), the Giants are averaging 6.9 runs per contest (5.3 runs per game for the season - sixth in the league).
2024 DRAFT CLASS: Five players from the 2024 San Francisco Giants draft class are currently with San Jose: OF Dakota Jordan (4th round), OF Jakob Christian (5th round), 3B Robert Hipwell (6th round), 2B Zander Darby (12th round) and 1B Jeremiah Jenkins (14th round). Jordan and Christian both joined the SJ Giants last week.
ON DECK: Following the current series in Fresno, the Giants will open postseason play with the best-of-three North Division Series against the Modesto Nuts. San Jose hosts Game 1 on Tuesday, September 10 at Excite Ballpark before the series shifts to Modesto's John Thurman Field for Games 2 and 3 on Thursday, September 12 and Friday, September 13 respectively (Game 3 if necessary).
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