BRADENTON (SNN-TV) – The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced Adrian Florencio as the organization’s Bob Friend Pitcher-of-the-Year.
The 23-year-old Florencio led all Pirates minor leaguers with 117 strikeouts during the 2021 season. He spent the entire campaign with the Low-A Southeast League champion Bradenton Marauders, where he went 6-4 with a 2.46 ERA, 30 walks, 117 strikeouts, .198 batting average against and 1.05 WHIP in 20 appearances (19 starts).
Florencio was named the Low-A Southeast League’s Pitcher-of-the-Year in 2021 to become the first full-season Low-A Pirates farmhand to take home Pitcher-of-the-Year honors since Mitch Keller was named the South Atlantic League’s Most Outstanding Pitcher in 2016 while playing for the West Virginia Power. Florencio was also named to the Southeast League’s post-season All-Star team as the right-handed starter.
Florencio led all Southeast League pitchers in strikeouts while finishing fourth in innings pitched and tied for fourth in games started. He also ranked first in the Southeast League in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (11.08), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.90), home runs allowed per 9.0 innings (0.47), strikeout percentage (29.8), WHIP (1.05) and Fielding Independent Pitching (3.25) among pitchers with at least 90.0 innings of work. He also finished with the second-lowest Batting Average On Balls In Play (.280) and walk percentage (7.6) among all pitchers in the league with at least 90.0 innings of work.
The Pirates signed Florencio as a non-drafted free agent on February 20, 2019. He made his professional debut in the Pirates organization with rookie-level Bristol of the Appalachian League in 2019 and went 2-1 with a 4.75 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 11 appearances (11 starts).
