Young SF Giants outfield prospect takes home California League Player of the Week honors

Young SF Giants outfield prospect Lisbel Diaz went on a tear against the Fresno Grizzlies last week. On Monday, he was rewarded with California League Player of the Week honors, per a league announcement.

Young SF Giants outfield prospect takes home California League Player of the Week honors

The San Jose Giants are off to a promising start with a 13-8 record while sitting in second place in the North Division. The faced off against the Grizzlies six times last week, and came away with five wins.

Both the starting rotation and lineup look to be strengths for San Jose this season. The rotation features 2024 draftees, including Hunter Dryden, Greg Farone, and Drake George, all of whom have been nearly unhittable. Jacob Bresnahan is coming off a quality start as well.

Diaz is joined by a strong lineup that features Dakota Jordan, Jakob Christian, and Drew Cavanaugh. For Diaz, this is a return to San Jose, as he finished the season with the Giants in 2024.

The19-year-old outfielder originally joined the Giants organization out of Cuba in 2023, agreeing to a $50,000 signing bonus. He performed well in the Dominican Summer League that year, and advanced to the Arizona Complex League to start last season.

While Diaz excelled to a .951 OPS with four home runs and 19 RBI in 90 plate appearances for the ACL Giants, there was a notable stretch that stood out. He tallied four hits, including two doubles and a home run, in four at-bats in a game against the ACL Padres last June. It was one of the few games that had exit velocity readings, which showed some pretty advanced contact to go along with impressive topline numbers.

The right-handed bat soon received a promotion to San Jose, where he put up a respectable .767 OPS with six home runs and 36 RBI in 255 plate appearances during his age-18 season. He even received Player of the Week honors near the end of last season, too.

Diaz has not stopped hitting in his return to the California League in 2025. He is slashing .306/.352/.459 (116 wRC+) with two home runs and 13 RBI in 91 plate appearances. This includes a stretch from last week, where he recorded 12 hits with one home run and eight RBI in 27 at-bats against Fresno.