Murf Gray named Pirates Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year

In just his first season of professional baseball, Murf Gray put together a campaign that made him the undoubtable choice to be named the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year award winner.

2026 was an incredible coming out party for Gray who led all Pirates’ minor leaguers in home runs with 32. Overall Gray put together a complete season and was not limited to slugging. Through Bradenton, Greensboro and Altoona Gray slashed .305/.402/.567 and had a .969 OPS. He had 143 total hits, 97 RBIs and earned 66 walks.

Gray was selected out of Fresno State in the Competitive Balance-B round in 2025 and more than exceeded expectations in 2026. During his time with the Grasshoppers he led the South Atlantic League in total bases and also had a hold on having the most homers in the league before his promotion to Double-A.

At 6’3” and 230 pounds, Gray is a lot of hitter when he’s at the plate. He showed in his last season at Fresno State that he swings a lot and tends to chase too much. Although he still has some refining to apply to his swing, his approach at the plate in 2026 was mostly solid. He still found himself chasing, but it was certainly down from his last year in college. The nice thing to this point is that Gray chases, but does not miss often. His approach will need some more fine tuning as well to adjust to major league pitchers, but Gray has proved at the very least that he’s been able to adapt over the course of a full major league season.

Despite being just 22-years-old, Gray is looking like a top prospect in Pittsburgh’s Minor League system. In his debut year Baseball America named him the Pirates’ top prospect for 2026, and MLB.com ranks Gray as the organization’s fourth highest rated prospect. He’s much more than a slugger too because Gray definitely has the arm to play third base for the Pirates. Third base of course was a position in transition in 2026 for the Buccos, and with a projected debut date of 2027, Gray could have a real shot at competing for that spot in Spring Training. With that being said he might lack the desired speed and first step agility to play the hot corner in the major leagues, but he’s got solid tools all around and could make an impact at the next level very soon.

All eyes will be on Gray in 2027 to see how quickly the Pirates decide to call him up and him to Pittsburgh’s lineup.