Five 2022 Indians Named MiLB.com Organization All-Stars

INDIANAPOLIS – Yesterday, MiLB.com announced that five members of the 2022 Indianapolis Indians – catcher Endy Rodriguez, right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester and outfielders Matt Gorski, Cal Mitchell and Bligh Madris – have been named as Pirates Organization All-Stars.

Rodriguez is currently ranked as Pittsburgh’s No. 1 prospect in the 2023 preseason rankings by Baseball America after being named as the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year by the same publication. The 22-year-old has also earned honors as the Young Bucs Honus Wagner Player of the Year and South Atlantic League MVP following his 2022 campaign between High-A Greensboro (88 games), Double-A Altoona (31) and Indianapolis (6). In his 125 total games, Rodriguez led all Pirates farmhands (MiLB ranking) with a .323 average, .407 on-base percentage, .590 slugging percentage (8th), .997 OPS (5th), 148 hits, 92 runs, 39 doubles (T-6th), 95 RBI, 68 extra-base hits (T-8th) and 270 total bases (T-9th).

After debuting with Indianapolis on Sept. 20 and appearing in six Triple-A games, Rodriguez tallied four multi-hit performances for a .455 average (10-for-22), four extra-base hits – including his first Triple-A home run in the final game of the season – and eight RBI.

Rodriguez, a native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, was originally signed by New York (NL) as a non-drafted free agent in 2018. He was traded to the Pirates from the Mets in a three-team, seven-player deal that saw left-handed pitcher Joey Lucchesi go from San Diego to New York (NL), right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove go from Pittsburgh to San Diego, and right-handed pitchers David Bednar and Drake Fellows, left-handed pitcher Omar Cruz and outfielder Hudson Head go from San Diego to Pittsburgh.

Priester joins Rodriguez at No. 5 on Baseball America’s top 10 Pirates prospects list. The 22-year-old made 19 starts across all four levels of Pittsburgh’s minor league system this season and compiled a 5-5 record, 3.29 ERA (33er/90.1ip) and 89 strikeouts. Since returning from the injured list (oblique) on June 9, he led all qualifying Pirates farmhands in ERA, strikeouts, games started, innings pitched and average against (.234).

The Glendale Heights, Ill. native was selected by Pittsburgh as the 18th overall pick in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Cary-Grove (Ill.) High School.

Gorski, 24, appeared in 81 total games between Bradenton (5), Greensboro (37), Altoona (38) and Indianapolis (1) with a .280 average (80-for-286), 24 home runs, 66 RBI, 21 stolen bases and a .956 OPS. Before suffering a quad injury that sidelined him on June 30, he led all Pirates minor leaguers with 23 home runs, 60 RBI, a .664 slugging percentage, 1.039 OPS, 37 extra-base hits, 156 total bases and 56 runs. He made his Triple-A debut on Sept. 20 and went 1-for-2 before suffering a season-ending injury.

A 2016 graduate of Hamilton Southeastern High School and Indiana University product, Gorski was selected by Pittsburgh in the second round (57th overall) of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft.

Mitchell, 23, excelled with a .339 average (80-for-236), .547 slugging percentage and .938 OPS in 63 games with Indianapolis, all of which were team-leading marks for any player with at least 50 games played. He also recorded a seven-game RBI streak from April 5-13 – the longest such streak by an Indians batter since 2015 – and a team-leading 13-game hitting streak from July 7-Aug. 17. His Triple-A success led to him making his major league debut with Pittsburgh on May 24 vs. Colorado, his first of three separate MLB stints.

He was selected by the Pirates in the second round (50th overall) of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego.

Madris, 26, split the season between Indianapolis and Pittsburgh prior to being claimed off waivers by Tampa Bay on Sept. 16. He appeared in 71 games with Indianapolis and compiled a .294 average (75-for-255) and .848 slugging percentage. The Las Vegas native made his MLB debut on June 20 vs. Chicago (NL) and went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI.

He was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the ninth round (268th overall) of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Colorado Mesa University.