Three 2021 Indians Named MiLB.com Organization All-Stars

Today, Minor League Baseball announced that first baseman Mason Martin, shortstop Oneil Cruz and outfielder Anthony Alford were named Pittsburgh Pirates Organization All-Stars following their respective 2021 campaigns.

Martin, 22, is rated as Pittsburgh’s No. 17 prospect by MLB Pipeline. This season, he led all Pirates minor leaguers with 25 home runs, 56 extra-base hits and 81 RBI, and tied for first with 29 doubles split between Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona. Since the start of the 2019 season, Martin ranks first among all minor league sluggers with 210 RBI, 127 extra-base hits and 480 total bases, and is second with 60 home runs.

The first baseman was promoted to Indianapolis on Sept. 20 and made his Triple-A debut at Omaha on Sept. 22 to begin the Triple-A Final Stretch. In eight games with Indy, he hit .240 (6-for-25) with three home runs and six RBI. His standout performance came on Sept. 24 at Omaha when he went 2-for-4 with a pair of homers and four RBI.

Martin was selected by Pittsburgh in the 17th round (508th overall) of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Southridge High School in Kennewick, Wash. and went on to be named the organization’s MiLB Player of the Year in 2019.

Cruz, 23, is rated as the No. 52 prospect in MiLB and No. 3 in the Pirates system by MLB Pipeline. After hitting .292 (73-for-250) with 15 doubles, five triples, 12 home runs and 40 RBI in 62 games with Altoona, he was promoted to Indianapolis on Sept. 20 and homered in his second at-bat with the Indians two days later at Omaha. Cruz homered in five of his six games with Indianapolis and compiled a .524 batting average (11-for-21), .655 on-base percentage and 1.286 slugging percentage, which each led all Triple-A batters during that time frame. On Sept. 30, he became the first Indians batter since Adam Boeve in 2008 to homer in four consecutive games.

Cruz made his major league debut with Pittsburgh on Oct. 2 vs. Cincinnati and went 2-for-5 with an RBI. In the season finale, he launched his first MLB home run.

The 6-foot-7 shortstop was traded to Pittsburgh from Los Angeles (NL) on July 31, 2017, with RHP Angel German in exchange for LHP Tony Watson. He was originally signed by the Dodgers as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic on July 2, 2015.

Alford, 27, hit .307 (58-for-189) with 12 doubles, 14 home runs and 41 RBI in 56 games with Indianapolis before having his contract selected by Pittsburgh on Aug. 7. At the time of his promotion, he ranked second among Triple-A East qualifiers in on-base percentage (.420), slugging percentage (.593) and OPS (1.013), and seventh in batting average. He was named the Indians June Player of the Month after reaching base safely in all 18 games played that month with a .415 average (22-for-53), .563 on-base percentage and 1.280 OPS.

The outfielder was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh from Toronto on Aug. 27, 2020. He was selected by the Blue Jays in the third round (112th overall) of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft.