Matt Gorski, Tyler Samaniego, and Jared Triolo Take Home Pirates Organizational Awards

Each spent the majority of their 2022 season with the Curve

By Jon Mozes

November 8, 2022

CURVE, PA – The Pittsburgh Pirates announced the organization’s award-winners for the Willie Stargell Slugger-of-the-Year, Kent Tekulve Reliever-of-the-Year, Bill Mazeroski Defender-of-the-Year and Omar Moreno Baserunner-of-the-Year on Tuesday. Matt Gorski was named the Willie Stargell Slugger-of-the-Year after hitting 24 home runs in 81 games in his 2022 season which included stops

CURVE, PA – The Pittsburgh Pirates announced the organization’s award-winners for the Willie Stargell Slugger-of-the-Year, Kent Tekulve Reliever-of-the-Year, Bill Mazeroski Defender-of-the-Year and Omar Moreno Baserunner-of-the-Year on Tuesday.

Matt Gorski was named the Willie Stargell Slugger-of-the-Year after hitting 24 home runs in 81 games in his 2022 season which included stops in Bradenton, Greensboro, Altoona and Indianapolis. At the time of his promotion to Altoona on May 24, Gorski led all of minor league baseball with 17 home runs in just 37 games and ranked among the South Atlantic League Leaders in RBI (37), slugging (.754), OPS (1.131) and extra base hits (22). With the Curve, Gorski batted .277 with eight doubles, two triples, six home runs and drove in 28 runs in 38 games around a stint on the injured list. At the time of his placement on the IL on June 30, he ranked first in all of minor league baseball with 23 home runs. His 24 total home runs ranked third among Pirates minor leaguers and he, Aaron Shackelford (26) and Endy Rodriguez (25) were the first trio of Pirates minor leaguers to homer 24 times in the same season since 2005. Gorski also totaled 21 stolen bases during the 2022 campaign, becoming the second Pirates minor leaguer to record a 20/20 season (Andres Alvarez).

Left-hander Tyler Samaniego was named the organization's Kent Tekulve Reliever-of-the-Year after going a combined 4-4 with a 2.45 ERA (47.2 IP / 13 ER) and 14 saves in 38 relief appearances between Greensboro and Altoona. Samaniego, Pittsburgh’s 15th round selection in 2021 out of South Alabama, went 41 straight at-bats at one point during the season between Greensboro and Altoona without allowing a hit. His .114 batting average against was the lowest among all minor league relievers (min. 40.0 IP). Samaniego did not allow a run in 20 of his 24 appearances with Altoona and his 10 saves with the Curve were tied for the fourth-most in the Eastern League and tied for the fifth-most among all Double-A pitchers from June 1 through the end of the season.

Infielder Jared Triolo was named the organizations Bill Mazeroski Defender-of-the-Year. The 24-year-old from Austin, Texas was selected by the Pirates in the Competitive Balance B round of the 2019 draft out of Houston and entered the season rated as Pittsburgh’s “Best Defensive Infielder” by Baseball America. Triolo, who earned the 2021 Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove Award at third base, spent thime at three different positions in 2022, making 87 appearances at third base, 19 at shortstop and seven in center field. He ranked third among all Eastern League third baseman in double plays (15), tied for first in assists (165) and second in total chances (237) and fielding percentage (.970) among players with at least 60 games played at the position. At the plate, Triolo finished the season second in the Eastern League in batting average (.282), second in walks (63), third in on-base percentage (.376), seventh in hits (120) and tied for ninth in stolen bases (24).

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