The Eugene Emeralds returned to PK Park with authority this week.
After losing their first series of the season on the road to the Everett AquaSox, the Emeralds fell out of first place. But they came home to Eugene and won all six games against the Hillsboro Hops, regaining a 1.5-game lead for first place and sending the increased-capacity crowds home happy.
A revitalized offense fueled the sweep, as the team scored 10 runs in three of the games. Franklin Labour and Logan Wyatt led the way, while Brandon Martorano stepped up in Patrick Bailey’s absence.
The offense found its footing again
The Emeralds’ bats began the year on fire, but quickly took a downward turn and struggled for several weeks. They revved it back into gear this week, scoring 49 runs in the six games, including 10 in each of Games 3, 4 and 5. As a team, they posted a .386 on-base percentage and .472 slugging percentage with 10 home runs.
Labour had a monster series, going 5-for-11 with three homers, good for a 1.995 OPS and a High-A West Player of the Week honor.
Wyatt also continued his season resurgence, posting a .667 OBP with four hits and nine walks. Despite the ups and downs of his season, he owns an impressive .396 OBP on the year. The power stroke still hasn’t developed for Wyatt though, with only four extra-base hits this season.
First-rounder Bailey, who has been struggling in his first professional season, had to sit out the entire series with back stiffness. But Martorano stepped up in his place, posting a 1.012 OPS.
Will Wilson also bashed a couple homers en route to a .908 OPS on the series, despite just a .238 average. The recently promoted Armani Smith went 6-for-19 with a double and a homer, as five Emeralds posted an OPS north of .900 for the series.
The pitching was still iffy
The offense really carried the series, as the pitching was still fairly unremarkable. The Emeralds gave up 31 runs, good for a pedestrian 4.17 ERA.
They also walked a batter an average of every other inning. Seth Corry, the Giants’ No. 5 prospect and top-100 prospect in all of MLB, continued his shocking control issues with four walks and three hit batters in just three innings. He’s now issued 34 free passes in 31 2/3 innings, and it finally caught up to him as he gave up five runs in Game 4. His team bailed him out though with a 10-7 comeback win.
The pitching staff did collect 63 strikeouts in 54 innings, an impressive mark but not quite up to the historical pace they were on. For the season, the team’s K/9 is down to a still-dominant 11.88. The highest K/9 in a minor league baseball full season (since 2005, which is as far back as minor league stats go) is 11.11, set by both the 2018 Quad Cities River Bandits and the 2019 Fayetteville Woodpeckers. The highest mark the Emeralds have set since 2005 is 9.85 in 2017.
The Emeralds, now looking down from above at the rest of the High-A West, will play their second consecutive home series this upcoming week against the Vancouver Canadians. The Canadians are in third place, two games behind the Emeralds with a 24-18 record.
The Emeralds will host a slew of themed nights as well, including belated St. Paddy’s Day on Wednesday and Pride Night on Friday.
