Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Two Player of the Month Awards

Mar 1, 2021; Sarasota, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates Nick Gonzales (81) poses during media day at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: MLB Photos via USA Today Sports
Mar 1, 2021; Sarasota, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates Nick Gonzales (81) poses during media day at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: MLB Photos via USA Today Sports

In the month of August a pair of prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system took home Player of the Month honors 

Pittsburgh Pirates 2020 1st round pick earned August Player of the Month honors for smashing the baseball and showing his potential. Nick Gonzales led the High-A East league in hits with 39, 24 runs, 81 total bases, 10 doubles, 10 home runs, .757 slugging percentage and was second in batting average with an average of .364. All of this went with an on-base percentage of .419 and OPS of 1.176.

Gonzales also had 11 multi-hit games and in some games, he totaled 3 and 4 hits. Greensboro is atop the season leaderboards on almost every category, it’s no surprise that Gonzales had the type of month he did, just how far he’s come in a year especially since there was no MiLB in 2020, when he was drafted. The 22-year-old has been deserving of a promotion since July and he has been looking like a first-round pick since then.

In addition to Gonzales, outfielder Jack Herman was named the Low-A Southeast League’s August Player of the Month for his great contact and knack for scoring runs.

Jack led the Low-A Southeast League in runs with 18, 23 RBIs, and he batted .326 and had 31 hits, those placed second amongst August rankings. Herman also had the third-most home runs with 5, .547 SLG, and an OPS of .928, which also was ranked third. Herman also won Player of the Week in August because he batted near .300 and walloped a walk-off 3-run home run, as well as another home run.

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Herman is playing the most he has during his career and is still only 21 after being drafted in 2018, which I’m assuming is out of high school. Herman is hanging around in the top 10 in team stats and does a little bit of everything offensively except steal bases and get walked. Jack Herman is likely to be an odd man out because of the Pirates’ depth in the outfield and because Pittsburgh has 8 of their 30 top prospects with outfield eligibility, but Herman could make a very good pinch-hitter, he just needs more time to play close to full season like he is in 2021.