Gavin Kilen put his best on display to start the second half of the season with High-A Eugene as he approaches his first anniversary in professional baseball.
The Giants’ No. 4 prospect enjoyed quite the week with his second multihomer game of the season on Thursday before he smashed a walk-off double in Friday’s 4-3 victory over Everett at PK Park. His game-winner marked the club's second walk-off in as many games during what was a de facto doubleheader for the Emeralds due to rain suspending Thursday's contest.
The infielder’s clutch run comes in the midst of a significant hot stretch at the plate where he has slashed .343/.439/.743 in his past 10 games.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Kilen told MLB.com. “I think it's just one of those things where, especially at this level, everyone's very competitive, everyone wants to win and everyone looks for those moments. Those are moments as a little kid where you're in your backyard playing with a ball and you're playing that moment out. I think just to be able to have those moments like that, be able to keep the moments, has been phenomenal.”
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Kilen’s first Draft anniversary -- San Francisco selected him No. 13 overall out of the University of Tennessee in 2025 -- comes around in two weeks. He got a quick introduction to pro ball with 10 games for Single-A San Jose last season before a bruised hip ended his year early. He kicked off 2026 with an assignment to Eugene.
“It's crazy to think it's already been a year,” Kilen reflected. “It doesn't feel like it was that long ago that I still had the Tennessee uniform on. ... This first year, it's just been taking in as much information as I can from all of the respective people in the Giants' organization that are around trying to give information.
“I think it's just really being kind of like a sponge, being able to soak in all the information, learn from a lot of people that I trust in my corner. Show up every day prepared to play and ready to give my best.”
Kilen impressed as a productive college bat with a .323 career average and .935 OPS in three combined seasons between Louisville and Tennessee. He found a new level as a slugger in 2025 with an 1.112 OPS. The middle infielder is starting to settle in as a first-year pro, having helped lead the Emeralds to a playoff berth as Northwest League first-half champions. The 22-year-old also leads the circuit in RBIs (59) through play Saturday.
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"The atmosphere that we've created with our Emeralds team, it's just a fun place to be, fun place to play," Kilen said. "Everyone goes with the flow regardless of what happened the day before. ... Every day, we talk about how we're gonna keep working on our game, play our best baseball with each other and it's just led to a lot of success all around the board."