Pirates Prospect Murf Gray Is Conquering the Minor Leagues with a Big League Mentality
Gray has been one of the hottest breakout prospects in the minors this year.
Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates approached the MLB Draft with a key goal in mind: adding some more offensive pieces to their farm system.
After taking an almost exclusively pitching-focused strategy during Ben Cherington’s tenure as the club’s general manager, the Pirates found themselves without many impact bats in their system. If they wanted to compete with their electric pitching core, this was something that had to change in the coming years.
Their first-round selection became a dream scenario, as right-handed pitcher Seth Hernandez fell into their laps with the sixth overall pick. Originally seen as a potential lock to be picked inside the top five at the very least, this was quite shocking, and it changed how the Pirates approached the rest of their class drastically, as they’d have to be far more cautious about their remaining bonus pool.
Following their selection of RHP Angel Cervantes with their first second-round pick, the Pirates turned their eyes towards Fresno State University’s third baseman with their competitive balance (B) round pick. This player was none other than third baseman Murf Gray, who was viewed at the time as a money-saving pick, as Gray had often received third- to fifth-round grades from the major prospect outlets.
All along, though, this couldn’t have been further from the case. Fast-forward a little over a year, and Gray has been one of the hottest breakout prospects in the minor leagues.
He’s crushed the lower levels and is on a very quick development track to the big leagues, looking like a draft gem in the process.
The Ascent to Double-A
Although Gray didn’t end up seeing any professional action during his draft year, he hit the ground running when first given the opportunity to play in the lower levels. Beginning the season with Low-A Bradenton, Gray hit .359/.436/.606 with eight homers and a 167 wRC+ through 38 games at the level.
Gray’s impressiveness went far beyond the stat line, too, as his underlying numbers generated a large amount of hype surrounding his raw, projectable tools. For example, he’d register a max exit velocity of 114.3 mph, a mark that would have been the 32nd-best mark in MLB this season, ahead of players like Juan Soto and Munetaka Murakami.
“You know, not really,” Gray said when asked if he expected to get off to such a hot start in his professional career. “It was more so just like making sure I’m ready to play every day, and, you know, trust in my work.”
Gray wasn’t the only one to trust in his work, either, as the organization decided that they had seen enough from him during this span to challenge him with the transition to High-A. This time, the 22-year-old got 43 games in High-A Greensboro, and he did not disappoint.
During this period, Gray slashed .302/.381/.610 with 15 homers and a 140 wRC+, arguably showcasing better tools than he did during his time in Low-A earlier that season. While he was raking as a professional for the first time, Gray was prepared for whatever challenges came his way early on.
“You know, we do a lot of work in spring training to prep for the season and make sure that I’m able to trust everything I’ve done and take that into the season,” Gray said regarding his preparation for the season. The work he did during that period certainly prepared him for what was to come, giving him an idea of how to handle day-to-day life as a minor leaguer.
With every game Gray stepped onto the field near the back end of his time in High-A, it seemed as though he should have been promoted to Double-A far sooner than he was. He finally got his chance on July 14, and yet again, immediately hit the ground running after arriving in Altoona.
He went deep in his Double-A debut and has slugged four homers in the 18 games he’s played since. Most notably, he has reached base in each of his first 18 Double-A games, a feat that only 25 Eastern Leaguers have reached or surpassed in 2026.
With a 129 wRC+ through this span as well, Gray isn’t showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Adapting to the Challenges of Professional Baseball
Despite hitting the ground running from seemingly the first time he stepped onto a professional field, Gray has had to adapt to the different levels he’s played at this season. Naturally, as a player advances through the minor leagues, opposing pitching gets better. Arms adjust, stuff improves, and control tightens up all at once.
“Just a lot of people have a little bit more polished stuff now, they can locate it a little bit better, but it’s also a chess game, you know?” Gray said regarding the improved pitching as he’s advanced through the lower levels. “It’s not checkers anymore. You’re trying to beat a guy every pitch. You got to play each pitch.”
This hitter’s mentality is the exact thing that routinely carries players to successful professional careers. With a never-ending drive and determination to improve and beat the opposing pitcher, Gray can stay within himself and keep finding success wherever he goes.
However, beating the pitcher comes with its challenges. Through the progression of a full season, old habits are bound to creep back in, and a player’s swing can always be refined further. This is exactly what Gray has done this season, as he’s continued to grow and develop as a hitter.
“Just making sure I’m staying behind the baseball, but what does that really mean?” Gray said after being asked about the message from the Pirates surrounding his swing. “You know, we get to confuse a lot of things as hitters. It’s as much as we can simplify things. So, what does ‘staying behind the baseball’ mean? What does ‘finishing my swing’ mean? Staying tight through my turn—just making sure the little things like that are right.”
With Gray possessing such a sharp hitter’s mind, he’s able to continue simplifying things for himself as he said. The less complicated he can make things seem, the more he’ll be able to refine his swing and continue following the patterns that have led him to where he is today.
For example, Gray mentions the idea of staying behind the baseball and staying tight through his turn, and these are both ideas that have allowed him to use the whole field and get beaten less by opposing arms. When watching Gray’s batting practice and in-game swings, although the pull-side power is certainly impressive, he isn’t afraid to shoot balls into the right-center gaps or take his base knocks on breaking balls away.
These types of things are what truly separates the professional hitters from the rest of the pack.
One of the changes I’ve noticed Gray play around with when working his way through the minors this season is the openness of his stance. While he was more open in the lower levels, it seems as though Gray has slowly closed himself off just slightly more, which can help him shoot balls the other way and stay through the baseball. While it hasn’t been a gigantic change, it’s something he’s focused on.
“That’s something I’ve done recently just to, you know, clean up some things,” Gray said. “But also, you know, you get to overcook things like that, so just being able to stay comfortable in a stance. And I think that’s the biggest thing for me: what stance is going to keep me comfortable and hitting the baseball?”
I think it’s safe to say that Gray has found that stance recently in Altoona, as he becomes more and more comfortable with every cut he takes at the level.
A Focus on the Future
Of course, as a hitter of this caliber begins to showcase his skills in the minor leagues, results begin to come. The next thing to arrive after results is attention, and this is something Gray has handled with nothing but grace.
“The biggest thing is like trying to block all of that out, not even paying attention to it,” Gray said. “You know, you’re here to play a game. You have 100 and, you know, 40, 30 games or whatever it is. You really can’t look at the bigger picture of what other people say.”
Gray has appeared on numerous prospect lists around the industry thanks to his breakout year, and he’s quickly climbing the rankings since first appearing on these lists.
If he keeps hitting at this pace, he very well may find himself at the top of these rankings before too much longer. But for Gray, his focus remains on the smaller things that lead to the bigger-picture, breakout campaign.
“It’s more so how you go about the little things. Like, how can I, you know, run the ball out, play the game hard—little things like that are going to carry into the whole season,” Gray said.
He’s excelled at these little things, never taking a pitch off no matter what, and always pushing himself hard despite whatever circumstances may stand in his way. With his advanced understanding of himself at such a young age and his ability to focus on the little things, Gray is perfectly preparing himself for the next tests that will come ahead of him in his major league career.
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Written by
Jay Staph, a huge baseball fan and stat nerd, founded and ran his own baseball writing website, BSBWrites, at just 16-years-old. With focal points around prospects,…