SF Giants postseason hero among those returning to San Jose's coaching staff

SF Giants postseason legend Travis Ishikawa will remain with the organization for the 2025 season. He is returning as the hitting coach for the San Jose Giants along with several other familiar faces, per a team announcement.

SF Giants postseason hero among those returning to San Jose's coaching staff

There were no changes to the coaching staff for a team that posted a 74-57 record in the California League. Ydwin Villegas is returning for his second season as the head coach for San Jose. Dan Runzler will serve as the pitching coach along with Nathan Keavy returning as the fundamentals coach.

The Giants originally signed Villegas as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2008. He spent his entire pro career with the club before hanging up his cleats for good after the 2014 season. Villegas did not stay away from baseball for long as he served as San Jose's fundamentals coach for serval seasons before being tabbed as the manager prior to the 2024 season.

Runzler is returning for his fourth year with San Jose. The Giants pitching staff tallied a 4.01ERA under his guidance last season.

The former pitcher had one of the more memorable minor league seasons for a Giants prospect back in 2009. He began that year in Low-A and ascended through the minors before debuting for the Giants later that same season. Runzler appeared in parts of five seasons in the majors, including four with San Francisco.

Similar to Runzler, Travis Ishikawa is returning for his fourth season as a coach for San Jose. He was a 21st-round pick by the Giants in 2002 out of Federal Way High School in Washington. Since then, Ishikawa has been connected to the Giants organization in some way with a few, brief stops elsewhere.

The former first baseman is best known for his iconic home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the 2014 NLCS to send the Giants back to the World Series for the third time in five years. That NLCS series was an improbable one for Ishikawa for a few reasons.

First and foremost, he collected five hits, including a home run, with seven RBI in 13 at-bats to help the Giants clinch the series in five games. He also appeared in all five games in left field after having minimal experience in the outfield prior to that series.

Ishikawa retired after the 2015 season and has been working as a coach or coordinator with San Francisco during his post-playing days. There is a good chance that he will be working with some of the organization's top young talent such as Rayner Arias and Walker Martin.