Fate of the Eugene Emeralds

It’s 65 and sunny today in Eugene, Oregon, as over 3,000 fans pile into PK Park, home of the Oregon Ducks and Eugene Emeralds. Last year, the opening night for the Emeralds rained out, with good weather being few and far between for the PNW in April. This year, despite the sunshine and opening day excitement, there’s a twinge of sadness in the air. A team that has been Eugene’s sole professional baseball fix for 70 years is moving. 

Right before the start of the season, the Emeralds announced that they would not receive funding after “Voters defeated a bond measure that would have helped fund a new stadium”, according to Alan Torres from the Eugene Register-Guard. PK Park is a good facility for college baseball, but it does not fit Major League Baseball’s standards for minor league stadiums. In a city that lives and dies for its college athletics, after 2026, there will be no professional sports in the Emerald Valley.

While there was no formal mention of the move during opening night on April 9th, I could hardly escape a conversation with fans without it coming up. I began my afternoon standing in the concourse watching warmups and taking in the opening day festivities. Immediately, I was approached by a man who told me he hadn’t missed an Emeralds home game in years, unless he was playing basketball with the University of Oregon’s Unified team through the Special Olympics program (he’s more of a rebounder, preferring not to score unless the team needs it). After talking about the excitement for the season, I asked him what he was going to do when the Emeralds departed. There was no response to be found, just silence as we both watched the mascot ‘Sluggo’ take pictures with young fans who likely won’t remember Eugene ever having professional baseball in the first place.

The game began slowly, without much action or high-level play from either side. The Emeralds, the High-A Affiliate of the Giants, were set to have a bullpen day, with nobody throwing more than two innings. The Tri-City Dust Devils, an Angels affiliate, started Carlos Espinosa, a good righty who struck out seven while allowing six hits in four innings of work. 

Our first barrel of the day, a double, came from James Tibbs III, the highest-ranked prospect on either side. He would put up high-level at-bats all day long while showing a maturity at the plate akin to a future MLB'er. The Emeralds took the lead in the bottom of the second off the bat of Bo Davidson, a 2023 undrafted free agent from the JuCo ranks. Bo Davidson will be discussed at length later on, with him having the most future potential of anyone I saw all day.

Capri Ortiz, a young shortstop for the Dust Devils, was responsible for the first run of the game, a single through the right side. He later knocked in another run to tie the game at 2-2 with another barrel to James Tibbs III in right field. Ortiz displayed the most upside on the Dust Devils roster, with plenty of volatility in his future projection.

The Dust Devils regained a one-run lead in the 7th when Ben Gobbel hit a ball off the wall in left field on a butt-out swing on an outside slider. It looked as if Emeralds fans were out of luck on opening night when the 9th inning came around and a polished lefty in A.J. Block toed the rubber. Fans were beginning to leave, as it was a school night for the young kids in attendance. Block mixed a multiple offspeed pitches to Cole Foster, the leadoff batter in the bottom of the 9th, to get him to 1-2 on some ugly swings. Next came his first fastball offering of the night, dead middle, and Cole Foster did not miss. A no-doubter over the Tri-City bullpen to tie the game at 3. The crowd was back, and in full minor league force. One gentleman gave my ‘heckle of the night’ to the Dust Devil’s dugout, shouting, “Are you guys sponsored by Charmin? Because you’re so, so soft.”

In the top of the tenth, the Devil’s threatened to score their extra innings runner who started at second, but ultimately came up short. The Emeralds were 180 feet from winning the game now, with James Tibbs III up to bat. Tibbs III rocketed a fastball straight to third base on the ground. It had a chance to get through the infield before being smothered by Ben Gobbel, picked up, and thrown to first. Jonah Cox advanced to third on the throw. 1 out, and 90 feet to go. The cleanup batter was Charlie Szykowny, who had struggled all night thus far. It was an uncomfortable left-on-left matchup versus Block, with the first two pitches being nasty sliders in the righty batters box, with the latter garnering a whiff. After the worst swing of the night, everyone in the stadium knew another slider was coming. Block delivered on the promise of another spinner, but Szykowny waited for it. The stadium was near silent before the swing that would deliver a walk-off sac fly to deep right field. Szykowny threw his bat up into the air, ballgame. Pandemonium ensued within the crowd, who, for a moment, forgot about all the sadness of losing their beloved minor league team. Tonight, the Emeralds won, and that was all that mattered.

Player Analysis

Capri Ortiz, SS/3B LAA (High-A)

2-for-5, 2 RBI, BB, K, SB

Capri Ortiz is a super raw prospect, with all the tools to rise up rankings if everything clicks. The defense is already polished, with great range due to his plus speed. The switch hitter is very wiry, with more power projection as he puts on mass. As of right now, he’s banking fully on his talent while playing the game fast. Ortiz showed plenty of chase today, especially on breaking balls. He almost beat out a ball hit directly to the first baseman, and made some good plays in the field.