After being on the job for nearly a year, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington finally got a chance to get to know some of the prospects in his system at the Florida Instructional League in 2020.
While there, Steve Williiams, now the director of player personnel, pointed out an outfielder named Matt Fraizer. Williams, who had been the pro scouting director, believed that with a few swing changes, Fraizer could be someone to watch.
"Of course we saw that play out. Just a great credit to Matt," Cherington said over Zoom Thursday. "His mindset about who he wants to be as a player and getting better every day is so laser-focused and consistent... Proud of him and the year he had. It’s terrific."
Fraizer did have a big year after reworking his swing and focusing on getting his contact point out in front more, becoming one of the most notable success stories of the Pirates' new player development.
The University of Arizona product slashed .314/.401/.378 with the Grasshoppers this year as his power numbers skyrocketed to the tune of 20 home runs, 14 doubles and three triples. Entering the 2021 season, Fraizer had not hit a home run and had only hit five doubles for the West Virginia Black Bears in 2019.
He would end up as the Most Valuable Player in the High A East division for his performance this season.
While the Pirates were stingy with minor-league promotions this year, Fraizer was one of the few who did get promoted to Class AA Altoona. His success with Greensboro translated well to Altoona where he hit .288 with three home runs in 37 games for the Curve.
“Fraiz left no question and kind of forced their hand to go to AA,” his Greensboro teammate Michael Burrows told me recently. “There’s no other way to put it. He just couldn’t stick around here any longer.”
And on Thursday, he got his final recognition for his work in 2021, being named the organization's Honus Wagner Player of the Year. The Pirates also announced Thursday the Bradenton pitcher Adrian Florencio is the Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year.
"It feels great," Fraizer told reporters over Zoom Thursday. "Just all the hard work coming out and to see the fruits of your labor just coming out to shine, especially after a hard year with COVID and everyone not being able to play. So to get back on the field and have the great success I did is really a blessing. It’s a very good feeling."
Florencio echoed that sentiment following the announcement of him winning the award.
"It's a reminder of all the hard work, all the sacrifices are worth it," Florencio said over Zoom through translator Mike Gonzalez. "If anything it's a great motivation, inspiration to continue to work hard, grinding in everything that I do and every opportunity that I'm given to get on that mound, to be able to demonstrate that I am here to help the team win and that I have what it takes to help this team win."
Opponents hit a paltry .198 against Florencio this season as he recorded 30 walks and 117 strikeouts for the Low A Southeast champion-Marauders. Florencio was named Pitcher of the Year for the Low A Southeast as well as he had a 6-4 record and 2.46 ERA.
What also stood about him was that in his 20 appearances, 19 of which were starts, Florencio allowed four earned runs just once.
"Every time he got on the mound, you knew it was going to be a quick game," his teammate Logan Hofmann said Tuesday. "He was going to work fast. He's gonna give us a chance to win, which is what you want to see every day. He went out there with that attitude of, 'my stuff is better than these hitters,' and he just went out there, threw balls in the zone and got outs."
While Florencio was no surprise to his teammates, it wasn't that easy for Cherington.
"I’ll fully acknowledge that in February 2021, I had seen his name in our database," Cherington said. "I had seen his name on a roster, and that’s probably about it. To see the consistency that he had all year, a huge credit to him and our staff, our Latin American development staff, particularly in the DR at our academy."
Thursday's awards concluded a three day celebration of the Pirates' minor-leagues, with many of the players who were recognized -- Lolo Sanchez for the Omar Moreno Baserunner of the Year, Emmanuel Mejia for the Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year, Jared Triolo for Bill Mazeroski Defender of the Year, plus Fraizer and Florencio -- making noticeable improvements despite being away from the team for most or all of 2020.
That type of improvement will bode well for system moving forward, but also should stand as an example of what it takes to get the most out of your career and keep progressing as things move along. Having the ability to make those improvements and continue to build will allow those within the Pirates' system to continue to flourish and maximize their talents.
"We believe it’s meaningful for everybody who’s been recognized this week to be able to celebrate that as a group and be clear that hard work and performance in any area, any of the areas we recognized, is going to be noticed and recognized," Cherington said. "Just as importantly, we believe there’s a specific connection between that and ultimately developing winning players and winning teams."
