Pirates name Endy Rodriguez player of year, Quinn Priester pitcher of year for minor leagues
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Endy Rodriguez started his season with a hot bat and finished it by leading Pittsburgh Pirates prospects in most major offensive categories.
Quinn Priester started the season with a strained oblique yet found a way to produce the best ERA in their farm system.
Both ended their seasons one step away from the majors leagues after September promotions to Triple-A Indianapolis and believe they should be ready to help the Pirates next season.
The Pirates rewarded their standout seasons by naming Rodriguez the Honus Wanger Player of the Year and Priester the Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year on Thursday to cap their minor league awards week.
Now 6-foot, 200 pounds, Rodriguez started the season in Greensboro and ranked second in the South Atlantic League in slugging (.544) and OPS (.936), seventh in batting (.302), fifth in OBP (.392) and tied for second in doubles (23) and extra-base hits (42) when he was promoted to Altoona on Aug. 9. Rodriguez was named the South Atlantic League’s MVP and best MLB prospect.
The 22-year-old played catcher, first base and left field. He was acquired from the New York Mets in the three-team trade that sent pitcher Joe Musgrove to San Diego.
Endy Rodriguez hit his first Triple-A home run last night! ???? pic.twitter.com/V8j3O3Nkrs
— Young Bucs (@YoungBucsPIT) September 29, 2022
Rodriguez led all Pirates minor leaguers in hits (148), extra-base hits (68), doubles (39), batting average (.323), on-base percentage (.407), slugging percentage (.590) and OPS (.996) and hit 25 home runs with 95 RBIs in 125 games across High-A Greensboro, Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. Rodriguez cracked the top-100 prospects lists of Baseball America (95) and MLB Pipeline (97).
“I think the first thing that helped me to be better in the whole year was try to control the zone,” Rodriguez said. “When the season was younger, I swung a lot. So I needed to be more focused and more calm.”
The switch hitter slashed .356/.442/.678 with 14 doubles, eight homers and 32 RBIs in 31 games with Altoona, including homers from both sides of the plate Sept. 1. Following his promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis on Sept. 20, he batted .455 (10-for-22) with two doubles, a triple, home run and eight RBIs in six games.
“From what we’ve seen, Endy’s put a lot together in professional baseball,” Priester said of Rodriguez on a video conference call. “It’s really, really fun to watch him play. He was hitting .300 in Greensboro. He came up and didn’t miss a beat with us (in Double-A) and went to Triple-A and didn’t miss a beat there. I think everybody’s pretty excited for the things that Endy can do.”
This is what makes Quinn Priester the best pitching prospect in the #Pirates system: Strikes out the heart of the order in the 6th inning on 9 pitches. He barely lets hitters get settled in the box before he casually tosses another one by them. That fist pump. #PiratesProspects pic.twitter.com/QnVe4qRpdX
— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) August 14, 2021
Priester overcame the oblique injury to post a strong season. He led all Pirates minor leaguers with a 3.29 ERA, going 5-5 with a 1.21 WHIP and 89 strikeouts against 30 walks in 90 1/3 innings over 19 starts over four levels. He spent most of the season at Altoona, where Priester went 4-4 with a 2.87 ERA and 75 strikeouts against 22 walks in 75 1/3 innings over 15 starts. He boasted a 1.69 ERA in July.
“We could have started this year as ‘We’re starting this year hurt (so) we’re gonna build back slow and then just kind of get what we can from this year,’ but we set myself up in a position to jump out of the gates as soon as I did get started,” Priester said. “The work we did at Pirate City was important for myself to hit the ground running. … I’m proud of the work that we have done, given the cards we were dealt at the beginning of the year.”
The Pirates’ first-round pick (No. 18 overall) in 2019, Priester is ranked the No. 44 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 63 by Baseball America. He is pitching for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League and was selected to the Fall Stars Game but did not participate. Priester hopes to push for a spot in the starting rotation next season.
“That is the kind of player anyone should hope to work with,” Rodriguez said of Priester. “He is such a pleasure to work with. He’s so nice, so polite. When it comes to on the field, that’s the guy you can trust with a late game in the World Series. He just keeps a good eye on the game. He works very hard and he stays very focused.”