{"id":246764,"date":"2026-07-18T17:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T17:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/246764\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T17:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T17:33:18","slug":"murf-gray-proves-pirates-right-after-promotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/246764\/","title":{"rendered":"Murf Gray Proves Pirates Right After Promotion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">PITTSBURGH \u2014 Murf Gray has had one of the best seasons of any prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system and he showed exactly why in his most recent game.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">Gray made his debut for Double-A Altoona against Reading Fighting Phils (Philadelphia Phillies on July 17 and hit a home run in his second at-bat of the game.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">He hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning, which was down in the zone and came off of Reading right-handed starting pitcher Luke Russo, and put the Curve up 2-0.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">It was a big home run for Gray, his 24th of the season, and helped Altoona get a 6-2 win in their first game back from the All-Star break.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Welcome to Altoona, Murf Gray! His first Double-A hit is his 24th home run of the season! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jJeKY4iL4x\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/jJeKY4iL4x<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AltoonaCurve\/status\/2078268192183537799?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 17, 2026<\/a>Gray Dominating in 2026<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">There hasn&#8217;t been a better hitting prospect for the Pirates this season than Gray, who is showing the very best of his game in his first full professional campaign.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\">Gray has slashed .328\/.407\/615 for an OPS of 1.022 in 82 games across three different levels, with 67 runs scored, 104 hits, 19 doubles, 24 home runs, 71 RBI and 38 walks to 72 strikeouts.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01kxsw8e0nfb6a639p8a.jpg\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Murf Gray\" title=\"Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Murf Gray\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7v\"\/><\/p>\n<p>FALMOUTH. 07\/27\/24 West third baseman Murf Gray catches Ethan Petry of the East between bases . All Star Cape League game | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7z\">He leads all Pirates prospects in runs scored, hits, home runs, RBI and ranks third in doubles, while also posting the best batting average, slugging percentage and OPS, while also ranking second in on-base percentage in players with 50 appearances or more. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"82\">Gray had just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/pirates\/onsi\/pittsburgh-pirates-prospect-murf-gray-earns-second-promotion-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">earned a promotion<\/a> from High-A Greensboro ahead of this game, where he also was one of the team&#8217;s best hitters.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"85\">He batted .302\/.381\/.610 for an OPS of .991 during his 43 games with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/pirates\/onsi\/pittsburgh-pirates-another-move-promoting-rising-third-baseman-murf-gray\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">High-A Greensboro<\/a> from May 19 to July 12, with 37 runs scored, 52 hits, eight doubles, 15 home runs and 36 RBI. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"88\">It was a sensational month of June for Gray, who batted .333\/.417\/.644\tfor an OPS of 1.061, with 29 hits in 87 at-bats, 17 runs scored, six doubles, seven home runs, 15 RBI and 14 walks to 19 strikeouts, earning South Atlantic League Player of the Month honors.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8b\">Gray also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/pirates\/onsi\/pittsburgh-pirates-prospect-murf-gray-2026-season-even-better\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dominated<\/a> with Single-A Bradenton to start the season, slashing .359\/.436\/.606 for an OPS of 1.042 in 38 games, with 29 runs scored, 51 hits, 11 doubles, eight home runs and 34 RBI. <\/p>\n<p>How Far Can Murf Gray Go This Season?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8h\">It&#8217;s been quite the season for Gray, who the Pirates took 73rd overall in Competitive Balance Round B out of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/pirates\/onsi\/news\/pittsburgh-pirates-select-first-college-murf-gray-2025-mlb-draft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fresno State.<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8k\">Gray is a bit more mature and older than those around him, at least in the lower levels of the minor leagues, and will turn 23 years old in December, so the Pirates won&#8217;t have as much hesitation towards his ensuing promotions.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8n\">He&#8217;ll have to continue the play he did in Bradenton and Greensboro with Altoona to eventually earn a promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-18\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8q\">Gray is putting himself on projection to make the major leagues at some point in 2027 and if he can continue developing his bat, he&#8217;ll make it a hard decision on the Pirates for them to not bring him up.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-19\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8t\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/pirates\/onsi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH \u2014 Murf Gray has had one of the best seasons of any prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-246764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}