2023 Seventh-Round Draft pick for the San Francisco Giants: Scott Bandura is now left fielder for the Eugene Emeralds. ( Photo/ Eugene Emeralds)
BY DONALD HUNT
Scott Bandura looks like a real player to watch in professional baseball. Bandura, a former Springside Chestnut Hill standout, is playing left field for the Eugene Emeralds, a high Single A minor league team with the San Francisco Giants. He’s batting .301 with 31 RBI, 25 stolen bases and four home runs.
“This is my second full year in the minor,” said Bandura, 23, who was a seventh-round draft pick of the Giants in 2023 coming out of Princeton University. “I love it. I’m living the dream. The goal was professional baseball from Day 1. I went to Princeton because it provided me with the best backup plan if it didn’t work. out. In addition to the academics at Princeton, I thought Coach [Scott] Bradley [Princeton head baseball coach] had the experience and done it before and got guys here before. I fully trusted him in getting me here. So, it’s been everything I’ve dream of and more. I have some great teammates and a really close group of friends here. From a baseball standpoint, it’s still baseball. The competition is better and deeper. There’s definitely a little bit of a learning curve.”
Bandura, a 6-4, 190-pounder has been gaining a lot of knowledge and experience in the minors. He played rightfield throughout his college career with the Tigers. He’s now made a smooth transition from rightfield to leftfield with the Emeralds.
“I played rightfield at Princeton,” he said. “It’s a little different. I see some right-handed hitters. I got used to it pretty quickly.”
Bandura was an outstanding catcher on the Taney Dragons baseball team, which played in the 2014 World Series with star pitcher Mo’ne Davis. That was a great time for him as well as a lot of hi teammates who learned how to play the game at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center, 17th and Christian Streets, under the tutelage of his father Steve Bandura, who manages the Anderson Monarchs, the center’s youth baseball team.
“I tell people that now [about playing catcher] and they don’t believe it,” he said. “Those were my guys. We’re best friends. We had such a good group and most of us stayed together through high school.
“I talked to Jared [Sprague-Lott, who plays Single A baseball for the Oakland Athletics] once a week. It’s his first year. Jahli Hendricks is a South Texas and Louisiana scout for the Chicago Cubs. I talk to him too.”
The Eugene Emeralds are based in Eugene, Oregon. They play in the Northwest League. Bandura is the leadoff hitter for the Emeralds. He previously batted sixth in the lineup.
Standout Scott Bandura is batting .301 with 31 RBI, 25 stolen bases and 4 HR for the Eugene Emeralds. (Photo/ Eugene Emeralds)
The 2020 Springside Chestnut Hill Academy graduate helped his team capture the 2019 Inter-Ac Championship. (PSD photo by James Quinn)
“The last seven games I’ve been the leadoff hitter,” Bandura said. “I try not to treat any different. It’s really one at bat per game. I try to treat it the same. When I batted sixth, I would leadoff an inning. I don’t change my approach. I see a lot of pitches. I try not to change too much.”
Bandura has a .395 on base percentage, which is 10th in the league. His ability to get on base adds to his overall skills while helping the Emeralds score runs.