All eyes are on Chase Center this week as March Madness comes to the Bay Area. The first game is set to tip off Thursday afternoon, and businesses couldn’t be more excited.

There weren’t many people besides the neighborhood usuals out at Thrive City Wednesday afternoon, but restaurants here said this is just the quiet before the storm.

“I do expect it to be maybe like close to double what a Warriors game would be. That’s what we’re prepared for at least,” said Shane Curran, the manager of Senor Sisig.

Shane Curran is the manager of Señor Sisig’s new location at Thrive City. He said when the All-Star Game came into town in February business was booming.

“We did maybe like two to three times what we would usually do for a normal Warriors game,” said Curran.

Curran said this location opened just over two months ago. It’s one of several new restaurants in Thrive City.

Kayah, a Burmese restaurant right next door, opened at the end of last year.

“When we started, it was kind of really slow but now that I feel like everyone knows that we’re here and everything, Splash and Senior Sisig, it has definitely just brought a lot more people to this area,” said Holly Minix, a bartender at Kayah.

College basketball fans from across the country are expected to descend on Chase Center Thursday for the doubleheader Sweet Sixteen matchups.

Curran told KPIX he’s curious how the event’s format will impact the amount of business they get.

“So, it’ll be interesting to see in-between the afternoon and the evening game how much activity we get to see out here,” said Curran.

Minix over at Kayah said she’s expecting crowds even in the morning when she starts her shift.

“I’ve had bar guests telling me today, the last couple of days actually that they were going to be back on Thursday to watch the game,” said Minix.

Both Curran and Minix said they are stocked up and ready for the crowds.

It’s been fun for them to see Thrive City grow into this game day destination, and they’re excited to see how the next big sporting event does even more to put them on the map.

“I mean even just as a fan, as a Warrior fan, it’s great to have this whole plaza built out you know and have all these options. I don’t look at it as competition, I want everyone to thrive for lack of a better pun,” said Curran.

According to Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Giants will be adding non-roster invitee and former Oakland Athletics relief pitcher, Lou Trivino, to the 26-man roster.

This is a significant move for a pair of reasons.

The will be the first time that Trivino has pitched in the big leagues since the 2022 season, which he split between the A’s and, later, the New York Yankees. Trivino was the other piece of the Frankie Montas deal that landed Ken Waldichuk, JP Sears, Luis Medina, and Cooper Bowman in the green and gold.

The other reason this is a fairly big move is that Trivino will be reunited with his former manager in Oakland, Bob Melvin, who he had been a solid late-inning reliever for.

In his Melvin Era (2018-2021), Trivino tossed 231 innings across four seasons, holding a 3.70 ERA with a 113 ERA+. In his final season under Melvin, he held a 3.18 ERA as the A’s closer and totaled 73.2 innings of work that year.

As things stand right now, Trivino won’t be asked to be the late-inning guy that he was back in Oakland. That will be left up to Ryan Walker, Tyler Rogers, and Camilo Doval, at least to begin the 2025 campaign.

In 2022, Mark Kotay took over as the A’s skipper, and at midseason the team traded him to the Yankees. He ended up holding a 6.47 ERA in Oakland and a 1.66 in New York, but persistent arm injuries kept him out of action the past three seasons.

He was able to pitch in 11 Minor League games in 2024, holding a 4.91 ERA (4.30 FIP) split between Double-A and Triple-A. This spring he made nine appearances out of the bullpen with the Giants, spanning 9.1 innings of work, and didn’t allow an earned run. He also struck out 31.3% of the batters he faced.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Trivino, the Giants designated David Villar for assignment.