Pirates Minor League Report: Murf Gray Gets Weekly Honor, Flores Jr. Heating Up
Pittsburgh Pirates third base prospect Murf Gray was named the Florida State League Player of the Week after a strong showing with the Bradenton Marauders.
Gray, who was drafted by the Pirates in the second round of last year’s draft, slashed .455/.500/.864 with 10 hits, three doubles, eight RBI and seven runs scored. The 22-year-old ranks seventh among all full-season minor leaguers in batting (.375) and is tops in the FSL in hits (36) and total bases (60) and is tied for first with 26 RBI.
In 26 games with the Marauders this season, Gray is batting .375/.446/.625 with nine doubles, five home runs and 26 RBI.
Here are some other notable performers throughout the organization.
Triple-A Indianapolis
Catcher/first baseman Rafael Flores Jr. is starting to heat up with Indianapolis. The 25-year-old is hitting .318 (7 for 22) during a current six-game hitting streak and has a double, a home run and seven RBI during that span. It was a slow start to the season for Flores but he’s raised his season OPS to .710.
A pair of players who spent time with the Pirates in recent seasons are near the top of the leaderboards in batting average. Outfielder Ronny Simon ranks second among all Triple-A hitters with a .365 average and infielder Alika Williams tied for third in the International League at .347.
On the pitching side, Bethel Park-native Justin Meis has a 0.79 ERA (1er/11.1ip) and a .132 batting average against (5-for-38) in his last six appearances.
Double-A Altoona
Infield prospect Keiner Delgado is riding a nine-game hitting streak and is batting .345 (10 for 29) with two doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI and a 1.107 OPS during that span.
Outfielder Will Taylor leads the Eastern League with a .553 on-base percentage since April 19 and is fourth in batting (.364) and OPS (1.159) during that time.
Fellow outfielder Lonnie White Jr. was promoted to Altoona after tearing up the South Atlantic League and appeared in two games. He went 2 for 9 with a double and a run scored in his first couple games with the Curve.
High-A Greensboro
Prospect Jared Jones (no, not the pitcher) is hitting .340 (17 for 50) with four doubles, two home runs, six RBI and a .964 OPS during his current 13-game on-base streak. The 22-year-old, who was drafted in the ninth round in last year’s draft out of LSU, has an extra-base hit in each of the last five games in which he’s logged a plate appearance.
Top 100 prospect Edward Florentino, who was reinstated from the injured list, played in his first two games in High-A and went 2 for 8 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored.
Left-hander Connor Oliver is so far not having any trouble in the hitter-friendly league. In five appearances/three starts to begin the year, Oliver is 2-0 with a 0.92 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 19.1 innings.
Low-A Bradenton
2025 first-round pick Seth Hernandez continued to sizzle. In five starts to begin his professional career, the 19-year-old is 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 22 innings. He’s only allowed 10 hits on the year.
Hernandez has the fourth-most strikeouts in minor league baseball and also ranks sixth among all
full-season minor leaguers in WHIP (0.73) and tied for sixth in batting average against (.133).
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