The Pittsburgh Pirates started three days of naming Minor League award winners on Tuesday afternoon. They announced the winners of the Slugger, Reliever, Defender, and Baserunner of the Year today. Tomorrow’s announcements will include the Coach and Teammate of the Year awards, while Thursday’s announcement will be for the top hitter and pitcher this year.
The slugger award is named after Willie Stargell. It was awarded this year to outfielder Matt Gorski, who hit 24 homers and put up a .598 slugging percentage in 81 games. He finished the year with a .956 OPS and also added 21 steals for good measure. His year was limited due to a hamstring injury, which also ended his season early after he returned in September and re-injured himself during his first game with Triple-A Indianapolis. Gorski was named today as the Pirates Prospects Breakout Prospect of the Year.
The reliever award is named after Kent Tekulve. It was awarded this year to Tyler Samaniego, who split the season between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona. He had a 2.45 ERA, an 0.80 WHIP, 14 saves and 47 strikeouts in 47.2 innings over 38 appearances this year. He had a run of 14 straight appearances covering 16.1 innings without allowing a hit from April 20th through June 4th.
The defender award is named after Bill Mazeroski. It was awarded to third baseman Jared Triolo for the second straight season. He spent the year with Altoona until a late season knee injury sidelined him for the final few weeks. He had a .795 OPS that was 67 points above league average in the Eastern League. His glove is what got him here though. He was coming off of winning the minor league Gold Glove award for third basemen in 2021, which is handed out to just one player per position in all of the minors. This season he had a .970 fielding percentage that was nine points higher than his mark last year, and he also showed more range than last year. His athleticism also allowed him to play some shortstop and center field this year.
The base running award is named after Omar Moreno. It was award to shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng, who stole 33 bases for Low-A Bradenton, which led all of Pirates minor league players. He was also caught just six times this year. The 20-year-old Cheng had a .795 OPS and he led the Florida State League with 79 runs scored and seven triples. He finished fourth with 63 walks.
