Promotion time.
Happy weekend, San Francisco Giants fans. May you enjoy all the postseason baseball, and/or the Niners exactly a small modicum of revenge, and/or the big college football matchups, and/or the winner-take-all Game 5 in the WNBA Finals.
You won’t enjoy Giants baseball, sadly. Not for a while. But on Friday the Giants did offer up a little bit of news, making their second hiring of the young offseason. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle had reported that they were preparing to do, the Giants formally announced that J.P. Martinez will be promoted from assistant pitching coach to pitching coach for the 2025 season. This follows the departure of Bryan Price, who stepped out of retirement for one season of coaching his hometown team before stepping down.
Martinez was a logical choice to take over. He’s been the assistant pitching coach for four seasons, during which time the Giants have — in my opinion — outperformed the expectations of their personnel on the mound. He’s received rave reviews from the pitchers and both coaching staffs, and is known for being a great teacher who utilizes analytics well. He’s also bilingual, which is great for a staff that figures to rely heavily on Randy Rodríguez and Camilo Doval.
Congrats on the promotion, J.P.!
And now we wait to see who is hired to replace him as assistant pitching coach. My money’s on Ryan Vogelsong.
In other baseball news, the Championship Series continues this weekend. Saturday is Game 5 of the ALCS, where the New York Yankees lead the Cleveland Guardians 3-1. Former Giant Carlos Rodón takes the mound for New York, and is up against Tanner Bibee. That game, which is in Cleveland, is at 5:08 p.m. PT on TBS, truTV, and Max.
On Sunday, it’s Game 6 of the NLCS, which shifts back to LA for (hopefully) two games. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have yet to announce a pitcher (and are probably going with a bullpen game), lead the series 3-2 over the New York Mets, who are sending former Giant Sean Manaea to the mound. Get ‘em, Sean. Get ‘em good. Beat LA.