The Eugene Emeralds are back with a bang.
The Emeralds won five out of six games against the Spokane Indians at Avista Stadium in their first series as the High-A affiliate of the Giants, and the first minor league action since 2019.
Stacked with talent including first-rounders Patrick Bailey, Hunter Bishop and Will Wilson, the offense exploded for 54 runs in the six games.
After 610 days without playing a game, the Emeralds opened their season on Tuesday, May 4. They won 9-5, with catcher Bailey and left fielder Diego Rincones each collecting three hits. Caleb Kilian pitched four scoreless innings with nine strikeouts in the opening night victory.
The offense kept rolling, with exactly eight runs in each of the next three games. In seemingly the blink of an eye, the Emeralds had gotten off to a 4-0 start and were embarrassing the Indians in front of their home fans.
Saturday was a different story, as six runs in the fifth inning for Spokane dug a hole that the Emeralds couldn’t claw out of. The offense attempted a late comeback, but the lead proved insurmountable as they lost their first game of the season, 10-6.
They bounced back with authority in Sunday’s series finale, demolishing the Indians 15-1. Helped out by five Spokane errors, the Emeralds scored in seven of the nine innings. All told, they averaged nine runs a game and put up a .322/.421/.542 team batting line. They sit in first place in the High-A West, with the Everett AquaSox (4-2) trailing them.
The offensive domination was truly a team effort, as the first-rounders were far from the only contributors. Rincones went 10-for-22 with three home runs, while center fielder Ismael Munguia went 7-for-18 with seven RBIs. Third baseman Sean Roby put up a .263/.417/.632 batting line in five games.
First baseman Logan Wyatt, who’s currently the Giants’ No. 17 prospect, got on base 12 out of 18 times in the first four games before going 0-for-4 in the fifth game and sitting out the sixth. The Emeralds didn’t go with their full squad in every game, as infielder Tyler Fitzgerald was the only player to appear in all six. Bishop was a late scratch before Game 4 and wound up not returning at all, so the offense should only be strengthened upon his return.
Kilian, the Giants’ No. 30 prospect, was the standout on the pitching side. He started Games 1 and 6, pitching a total of nine innings with just one run allowed and 14 strikeouts. Giants No. 5 prospect Seth Corry also made his Emeralds debut, but had a shaky outing giving up five runs (four earned) in 2 1/3 innings. Travis Perry, John Russell and Ryan Walker all provided strong efforts out of the bullpen.
Giants No. 18. prospect Kai-Wei Teng also started a game, allowing three runs while striking out five in 4 1/3 innings.
Led by new manager Dennis Pelfrey, the Emeralds are a talented group, much more so than in years past. The offense looks dominant, with contributions from top prospects and fringe prospects alike, while there are some intriguing names on the pitching side too.
The sky’s the limit for the Eugene club as it looks to continue to command the High-A West over the course of the 120-game season.
The Emeralds continue their season with a road doubleheader against the Hillsboro Hops on Monday starting at 5:05 p.m. They’ll then return to Eugene for their home opener against the Hops on Thursday at 7:35 p.m.
