The Eugene Emeralds split a six-game series with the Spokane Indians at PK Park this week. While they continued to struggle scoring runs, their pitching staff kept them in the games with another heap of strikeouts, even with the team issuing too many free passes. Despite the ups and downs, the team sits in a three-way tie for first place in the High-A West as they head into the second month of the minor league season.
The offense is officially in a slump
While the offense initially cooled down after a hot start, it is now officially in a slump. Eugene hitters put up a .197/.272/.344 batting line this series, and are hitting just .189/.298/.303 over the last two series combined.
First-rounder Patrick Bailey has had strikeouts come back to haunt him. He’s punching out 32.3% of the time this season, and batted just .125/.125/.208 in the last series, leaving the bases loaded twice in an ugly Game 6 performance.
With Hunter Bishop on the IL, Bailey struggling and Diego Rincones joining the Venezuelan National Team, the Emeralds’ offense is depleted. Logan Wyatt is mired in a deep slump, recording a total of just six hits since beginning the season with three consecutive multi-hit games.
Will Wilson is the one offensive player putting up a great season, with a .953 OPS on the year. With Bishop hurt, he’s the only one keeping the offensive afloat. He was taken out in Game 6 after being hit by a batted ball, so the Emeralds have to cross their fingers that he’s okay or they’ll be in even deeper trouble.
The pitching staff keeps striking out batters… but with a catch
In last week’s series recap, I mentioned how the Eugene pitchers were striking batters out at an otherworldly rate. They kept that up, posting a 12.83 K/9 for the series.
But with all those strikeouts came 32 walks in 54 innings, which comes out to a mediocre 5.33 BB/9. All told, the Emeralds posted a 4.17 ERA this series. What the pitchers are doing with the strikeouts is undoubtedly impressive, but the walks keep coming back to haunt them. And it starts with the guys at the top.
Seth Corry and Kai-Wei Teng, who are both ranked in the Giants’ top 30 prospects, have both struggled with free passes. Teng, the No. 18 prospect, has walked 12 in 19 2/3 innings despite striking out 29 and holding batters to a .225 average.
Corry, the No. 5 prospect, has had it even worse while putting up a remarkably peculiar pitching line. He’s walked an abysmal 21 in 19 innings, good for a horrific 9.95 BB/9. But he’s also held batters to a miniscule .159 average and has struck out 38 in those 19 innings, averaging two strikeouts an inning and 18 per nine innings. All of these numbers are extremes, and if he could walk batters at even a mediocre rate, he would be utterly dominant.
The Emeralds, who have yet to outright lose a series, hold a 15-9 record which ties them with the Everett AquaSox and Vancouver Canadians for first place in the High-A West. They’ll go head-to-head against the Canadians in their next series starting Tuesday.
