Matt Fraizer had one of the hottest bats in minor league baseball, to the point that the Pittsburgh Pirates promoted the 23-year-old outfielder from High-A Greensboro to Double-A Altoona in early August.
After leading all Pirates minor leaguers with at least 350 plate appearances in batting average (.306), on-base percentage (.388), slugging percentage (.552), OPS (.939), hits (133), total bases (240) and runs scored (84), Fraizer, a third-round draft pick in 2019, also was named the High-A East League MVP and the organization’s player of the year by Baseball America.
Fraizer added his biggest honor when the Pirates announced Thursday that he received its Honus Wagner Award as the organization’s player of the year. The award is named after the Hall of Famer who won eight National League batting crowns in 17 seasons and is regarded as the greatest shortstop in baseball history.
“It feels great,” Fraizer said Thursday afternoon by video conference call. “Just all the hard work coming out and to see the fruits of your labor just coming out to shine, especially after a hard year with (covid-19) and everyone not being able to play. So to get back on the field and have the great success I did is really a blessing.”
The Pirates also named Low-A Bradenton right-hander Adrian Florencio as the winner of the Bob Friend pitcher of the year award, named for the four-time All-Star who owns club records for games started (477), innings pitched (3,481) and strikeouts (1,682).
The 6-foot-6 Florencio was 6-4 with a 2.46 ERA and led all Pirates minor leaguers with 117 strikeouts last season for the Low-A Southeast League champion Marauders. Florencio, 23, signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019, had a .198 batting average against and 1.05 WHIP in 20 appearances (19 starts), and was named the league’s pitcher of the year.
“It’s a great achievement,” Florencio said, through team interpreter Mike Gonzalez. “It’s something that I hold dear to me from now on, and it’s something that speaks measures to me. It’s a reminder of all the hard work, all the sacrifices are worth it. If anything it’s a great motivation, inspiration to continue to work hard, grinding in everything that I do and every opportunity that I’m given to get on that mound, to be able to demonstrate that I am here to help the team win and that I have what it takes to help this team win.”
