One year ago at this time, Jordan Luplow was finishing a season in High-A. He struggled a bit during the first two months of the year, but finished strong in the second half, getting him set up for a promotion to Double-A at the start of the 2017 season.
A year later, Luplow finds himself in the majors. There was no slow start this time around, as he hit for a .287/.368/.535 line in 288 plate appearances, before getting a quick promotion to Indianapolis. Luplow continued putting up those numbers in Triple-A, with a .325/.401/.513 line in 182 plate appearances.
The combination between the two levels led to Luplow being the Pirates Prospects 2017 Minor League Player of the Year.
In total, Luplow combined to put up a .302/.381/.527 line in 470 plate appearances, along with 23 homers. He led the minor league system in homers, despite being promoted to the majors at the end of the year. He also had the highest OPS of anyone with more than 300 plate appearances, excluding all of the short-season players.
The Pirates took notice with this performance, promoting Luplow to the majors, and giving him some priority playing time during the month of September. He’s in the same lineup now as Josh Bell, who won this award the previous three years. At this point, Luplow could be putting himself in position to stick in the majors next year, meaning we probably won’t see a repeat of this award.
Below you will find our Minor League Players of the Year for each level in the farm system, our previous overall award winners, and the 2017 monthly awards.
Previous Pirates Prospects Minor League Players of the Year
2016 – Josh Bell
2015 – Josh Bell
2014 – Josh Bell
2013 – Andrew Lambo
2012 – Gregory Polanco
2011 – Starling Marte
2017 Pirates Prospects Minor League Players of the Year By Level
Indianapolis – Chris Bostick, UTIL (.294/.362/.418, 7 HR, 549 PA)
Altoona – Pablo Reyes, 2B (.274/.356/.410, 10 HR, 483 PA)
Bradenton – Mitchell Tolman, 2B (.267/.360/.399, 10 HR, 505 PA)
West Virginia – Albert Baur, 1B (.298/.367/.439, 8 HR, 442 PA)
Morgantown – Tristan Gray, 2B (.269/.329/.486, 7 HR, 234 PA)
Bristol – Edison Lantigua, OF (.307/.411/.477, 4 HR, 207 PA)
GCL Pirates – Mason Martin, 1B (.307/.457/.630, 11 HR, 166 PA)
2017 Pirates Prospects Player of the Month Awards
April
Overall – Kevin Kramer
Indianapolis – Chris Bostick
Altoona – Kevin Kramer
Bradenton – Logan Hill
West Virginia – Ty Moore
May
Overall – Max Moroff
Indianapolis – Max Moroff
Altoona – Jordan Luplow
Bradenton – Cole Tucker
West Virginia – Clark Eagan
June
Overall – Will Craig
Indianapolis – Eric Wood
Altoona – Jordan Luplow
Bradenton – Will Craig
West Virginia – Hunter Owen
July
Overall – Jordan George
Indianapolis – Jordan Luplow
Altoona – Pablo Reyes
Bradenton – Jordan George
West Virginia – Clark Eagan
Morgantown – Bligh Madris
Bristol – Edison Lantigua
GCL Pirates – Mason Martin
August
Overall – Jacob Stallings
Indianapolis – Jacob Stallings
Altoona – Cole Tucker
Bradenton – Ty Moore
West Virginia – Albert Baur
Morgantown – Lucas Tancas
Bristol – Ben Bengtson
GCL Pirates – Rodolfo Castro
