Mariners prospect Emerson snaps slump with HR, 3-hit game

After his impressive climb to Triple-A last season, Seattle Mariners top prospect Colt Emerson has run into some speed bumps early on with Tacoma this season.

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On Wednesday, he showed a positive sign with his best game at the plate this year to break out of a 10-game slump.

Emerson checked in with his first three-hit day of the season and capped it with an impressive solo blast in the Rainiers’ 11-10 road loss against the El Paso Chihuahuas.

The 20-year-old shortstop secured his first base knock off a familiar face to Mariners fans, left-hander Marco Gonzales, with a single up the middle. He added a run-scoring single to right field in the fifth inning.

Then in the eighth inning, Emerson launched a changeup from right-hander Misael Tamarez 399 feet and into the upper deck in right-center field at Southwest University Park for his fifth homer of the season.

Emerson also had an RBI groundout in the first inning as he produced his first three-RBI game of the season as well.

The three-hit day helped Emerson raise his batting average to .241 and OPS to .799.

Emerson missed four games in April with a wrist injury and had seen his numbers dip since returning. Entering Wednesday, he had hit just .171 (7 for 41) with 17 strikeouts in 10 games after missing time with the injury.

Emerson, who signed an eight-year, $95 million contract extension in March, is MLB Pipeline’s fifth-ranked prospect in baseball and Baseball America’s fourth-ranked prospect. He’s expected to make his major league debut this season.

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