PITTSBURGH — Outfielder Robbie Grossman accomplished a rare feat with the High-A Bradenton Marauders this year. In 134 games, Grossman drew 104 walks and scored 127 runs, becoming the first minor leaguer since Nick Swisher in 2004 to score at least 100 runs and walk 100 times in the same season.
Grossman, who turned 22-years-old this month, didn’t even think about achieving such a feat until last week after his Minor League season ended.
“I really thought about it, and was like, ‘wow.’ That’s a lot of running. It’s a great honor,” He said.
Grossman also earned Florida State League post-season All-Star honors this year while becoming the first minor leaguer since Adam Piatt in 1999 of the Oakland Athletics’ organization to score at least 127 runs in a season.
“You play 130 games, most times if you do well, you get moved up,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “You got to have the combination of doing well and there not being any movement in the organization. He’s going to the Arizona Fall League. He also scored a 127 runs, the first time somebody’s done that in a long time as well. Offensive player. I think he plays well on the other side of the ball. I’m looking forward to going to the Fall League and seeing him play a little bit.”
Being able to draw over 100 walks in 134 game requires great plate discipline, a great asset for such a young player.
“I hit leadoff and I knew that coming into the season. I knew my role to get on base and let the other guys behind me, drive me in,“ Grossman said. “I just tried to use that to my advantage and just ran with it from there”
After having a huge season in High-A, the Pittsburgh Pirates today named outfielder Robbie Grossman their minor league Player-of-the-year.
“It’s a blessing and it’ been an amazing season, just looking to build on it,” he said.
Grossman hit .294 with 34 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs, 56 RBI in 134 games while spending the entire season with High-A Bradenton.
His success this season, he contributes to hitting left-handed.
“I’ve been weird all my life, I threw left-handed hit right-handed,“ Grossman said. “I’ve only been hitting left-handed a couple years now. I’m finally getting more comfortable with that, figuring out how to use that.”
The Marauders, who made their second straight postseason appearance, lost the deciding game of the Florida State League South Division Series to the St. Loucie Mets.
“[He] definitely was a big part of that club in Bradenton,“ Hurdle said. “They had a very hard first half and just an extremely, almost the flip side of our two halves right here, it was tough sledding the first half. The second half, they were just throwing it out there, banging people. And finished extremely strong. Robbie was a big part of that. He had a good season. He’s being rewarded. We’ll see what he can do in this next challenge and have some fun in the Fall League.”
“We really gelled,“ Grossman said. “A lot of us guys, we never really played together, knew each other before at the beginning of the year. But we really gelled and came together as a team, guys stepped up and did what we did.”
Grossman, who was selected by the Pirates in the sixth round of the 2008 draft out of Cupress Fairbanks (Texas) High School, will represent Pittsburgh in the Arizona Fall League, which kicks off on October 4th. Grossman will join pitchers Gerrit Cole, Nathan Baker, Michael Colla, Phillip Irwin, and infielders Brock Holt and Jarek Cunningham to compete for the Mesa Solar Sox against other clubs highly regarded prospects.
“It’s a great honor, and I’m really looking forward to it,“ Grossman said. “I leave next week and I’m really excited about it.”
“Just play, and have fun, a chance to get to play against a higher competition.”
Photo credit: MILB
Discussion about this post