Jacob Gonzalez and Luis Ortiz named Manny Sanguillen Teammates of the Year

November 9th, 2022

The Pittsburgh Pirates today named Jacob Gonzalez and Luis Ortiz the organization’s Manny Sanguillen Teammates-of-the[1]Year. In addition, Jonathan Prieto was named the organization’s Danny Murtaugh Coach-of-the-Year. The announcements were made by John Baker, the organization’s Director of Coaching and Player Development.

The 24-year-old Gonzalez ranked second among all Pirates minor leaguers (minimum 300 plate appearances) with a .305 batting average this past season in a combined 112 games between Bradenton and Greensboro.

Gonzalez took home Florida State League player-of-the-week honors twice this past season and once in the South Atlantic League. He was also named the Florida State League’s player-of-the-month for April. At the time of his promotion to Greensboro on May 10, Gonzalez ranked third in all of MiLB in batting (.393), seventh in OPS (1.129) and 10th in OBP (.477). He also ended his time with the Marauders riding a 24-game on-base streak, which was tied for the fourth-longest in the Florida State League for the season. Gonzalez is currently playing for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League.

The 23-year-old Ortiz finished second among all Pirates minor leaguers with a combined 138 strikeouts this past season between Altoona and Indianapolis before making his big league debut on September 13 in game two of a doubleheader at Cincinnati. Ortiz, who was signed by the Pirates as non-drafted free agent on October 2, 2018, was named Double-A Altoona’s Pitcher-of-the-Year in 2022 after recording the fourth-most strikeouts (126) in a single-season in Curve history.

Prieto has been a member of the Pirates organization for two-plus decades. He spent time in 2022 as a coach for the Florida Complex League Pirates, which featured the fourth-youngest group of hitters in the league with an average age of 20.8 years, as well as Double-A Altoona. Prieto has also served the Pirates organization as a hitting coach with Bristol (2019), the West Virginia Black Bears (2015-18), Jamestown (2014), the Dominican Summer League (2012-13) as well as the Venezuelan Summer League (2005-11). He also spent four years as a player in Pittsburgh’s minor league system from 1998-2001 after being signed as a non-drafted free agent on July 3, 1997.

The Manny Sanguillen Teammates-of-the-Year awards are given to players who best exemplify Sanguillen’s passion for the game and building friendships among teammates.

The Danny Murtaugh Coach-of-the-Year is awarded to the Pirates minor league coach who has had the biggest impact on the development of talent throughout the season. The award is named in honor of long-time Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh, who served in the role for 15 seasons, leading the club to two World Series Championships.

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