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Jordan Luplow is the Pirates Prospects 2017 Minor League Player of the Year

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One year ago at this time, Jordan Luplow was finishing a season in High-A. He struggled a bit during the first two months of the year, but finished strong in the second half, getting him set up for a promotion to Double-A at the start of the 2017 season.

A year later, Luplow finds himself in the majors. There was no slow start this time around, as he hit for a .287/.368/.535 line in 288 plate appearances, before getting a quick promotion to Indianapolis. Luplow continued putting up those numbers in Triple-A, with a .325/.401/.513 line in 182 plate appearances.

The combination between the two levels led to Luplow being the Pirates Prospects 2017 Minor League Player of the Year.

In total, Luplow combined to put up a .302/.381/.527 line in 470 plate appearances, along with 23 homers. He led the minor league system in homers, despite being promoted to the majors at the end of the year. He also had the highest OPS of anyone with more than 300 plate appearances, excluding all of the short-season players.

The Pirates took notice with this performance, promoting Luplow to the majors, and giving him some priority playing time during the month of September. He’s in the same lineup now as Josh Bell, who won this award the previous three years. At this point, Luplow could be putting himself in position to stick in the majors next year, meaning we probably won’t see a repeat of this award.

Below you will find our Minor League Players of the Year for each level in the farm system, our previous overall award winners, and the 2017 monthly awards.

Previous Pirates Prospects Minor League Players of the Year

2016 – Josh Bell

2015 – Josh Bell

2014 – Josh Bell

2013 – Andrew Lambo

2012 – Gregory Polanco

2011 – Starling Marte

2017 Pirates Prospects Minor League Players of the Year By Level

Indianapolis – Chris Bostick, UTIL (.294/.362/.418, 7 HR, 549 PA)

Altoona – Pablo Reyes, 2B (.274/.356/.410, 10 HR, 483 PA)

Bradenton – Mitchell Tolman, 2B (.267/.360/.399, 10 HR, 505 PA)

West Virginia – Albert Baur, 1B (.298/.367/.439, 8 HR, 442 PA)

Morgantown – Tristan Gray, 2B (.269/.329/.486, 7 HR, 234 PA)

Bristol – Edison Lantigua, OF (.307/.411/.477, 4 HR, 207 PA)

GCL Pirates – Mason Martin, 1B (.307/.457/.630, 11 HR, 166 PA)

2017 Pirates Prospects Player of the Month Awards

April

Overall – Kevin Kramer

Indianapolis – Chris Bostick

Altoona – Kevin Kramer

Bradenton – Logan Hill

West Virginia – Ty Moore

May

Overall – Max Moroff

Indianapolis – Max Moroff

Altoona – Jordan Luplow

Bradenton – Cole Tucker

West Virginia – Clark Eagan

June

Overall – Will Craig

Indianapolis – Eric Wood

Altoona – Jordan Luplow

Bradenton – Will Craig

West Virginia – Hunter Owen

July

Overall – Jordan George

Indianapolis – Jordan Luplow

Altoona – Pablo Reyes

Bradenton – Jordan George

West Virginia – Clark Eagan

Morgantown – Bligh Madris

Bristol – Edison Lantigua

GCL Pirates – Mason Martin

August

Overall – Jacob Stallings

Indianapolis – Jacob Stallings

Altoona – Cole Tucker

Bradenton – Ty Moore

West Virginia – Albert Baur

Morgantown – Lucas Tancas

Bristol – Ben Bengtson

GCL Pirates – Rodolfo Castro

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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