Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Two Low-A Accolades Earned

A pair of Pittsburgh Pirates prospects have taken home postseason accolades following strong seasons with the Low-A Bradenton Marauders

The deep, talented farm system of the Pittsburgh Pirates continues to rack up postseason accolades and awards. A pair of Pirate prospects took home postseason honors at the Low-A level on Friday.

Catching prospect Endy Rodriguez has been named the Low-A Southeast MVP. Acquired from the New York Mets in the three-team offseason trade that sent Joe Musgrove to the San Diego Padres, Rodriguez has quickly made an impact as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

In 98 games played for the Low-A Bradenton Marauders this season Rodriguez accumulated 434 plate appearances. The 21-year-old Rodriguez hit for a .294/.380/.12 slash line to go with a strong 140 wRC+ and an 11% extra base hit rate.

Rodriguez primarily played catcher but is a plus athlete who can play elsewhere. He spent time both at first base and in the outfield this season. With the Pittsburgh Pirates flooding their system with catching prospects in the last 10 months, including the addition of 2021 first overall draft pick Henry Davis, Rodriguez’s ability to play other positions could prove to be important moving forward, as well as being a way to continue to get his bat into the lineup when he’s on a team with other high-end catching prospects.

The other Pirate prospect to take home Low-A Southeast honors is pitcher Adrian Florencio. Florencio took home Low-A Southeast League Pitcher of the Year honors.

Florencio pitched 95 innings in 20 appearances, 19 of which were starts. Florencio posted a 2.46 ERA, 3.25 FIP, he walked just 7.6% of batters faced and he struck out batters at a healthy 29.8% clip.

This season was a big jump for the 22-year-old Florencio. Prior to this season Florencio had not pitched above the GCL and did not pitch in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the season Florencio had he established himself as a legitimate pitching prospect in the Pirate farm system and should now start the 2022 season with Double-A Altoona.