Tuesday, June 23

Welcome to a new edition of the Pirates Beat newsletter. The Buccos hope to climb back above .500 on a six-game homestand against the Mariners and then the division-rival Reds.

PITTSBURGH -- When one sees a right-handed slugger donning a Fresno State jersey, thoughts quickly turn to Aaron Judge. In recent years, Murf Gray has taken on a similar spotlight. 

Gray, at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, got to meet Judge in his sophomore year with the Bulldogs, hearing about his routine and attempting to model Judge’s patience in the box. The Pirates’ No. 17 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) is batting .343 with a 1.047 OPS and 18 home runs in 64 games between Single-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro this season. 

Gray is a long way from reaching the stardom of the Bronx Bomber. However, as he continues to cut down on his chase rate, Gray climbs closer to his potential. 

“The biggest thing [the Pirates] preached was being aggressive, but being aggressive in the right spot,” Gray told MLB.com. “I like getting the at-bat over with. I like going after that first pitch. But along with that, knowing where I want to see that first pitch is going to be very important.”

Though Gray was a Competitive Balance Round B selection in the 2025 Draft, it was the 32% chase rate that held him back from going higher. Fresno State head coach Ryan Overland knew Gray would have to increase his walk total and see more pitches to find more consistent success at the next level. So did Gray.

In college, Gray said he would look for any pitch up in the zone rather than specific locations to swing at. Gray and his former roommate, Pirates pitching prospect Jack Anker, would often discuss how to get each other out.

“If you asked me last year, ‘Hey, how do you get Murf out?’ I would have told you low and away slider. Now, I don't know,” Anker said.

Pittsburgh selected Gray knowing his propensity to chase. He wasn’t sent to an affiliate in '25, but instead worked on finding his zone. Gray saw the advice as an “obvious improvement” and a way to enhance his advanced hit tool. 

But how can one actually improve on a skill so specific? With technology, Gray was able to see where exactly pitches were compared to where he thought they were. He mixes heights on the offspeed machine in his drill work. Gray is also taking on a mental switch, not looking to cover the whole zone and instead hunting pitches in one specific spot. He’s willing to accept that failure is a part of the game and moving on to the next pitch after a bad chase.

“It’s knowing the type of hitter you are, knowing that you can still stay aggressive and nobody's telling you to switch up from that,” Gray said. “It's more so how can we improve that, and along with that, you're going to see power numbers increase, you're going to see a lot of these things go up and get better.”

Gray is finding ways to soothe himself through the pressure of working his way through the system. He enjoys listening to R&B music, specifically artist Brent Faiyaz, to slow his heart rate down. Gray listens to the music during batting practice or when taking ground balls, a routine he’s taken on since high school.  

“How he plays kind of resembles who he is as a person,” Anker said. “Cool, calm, collected. Never gets too high, never gets too low.”

Gray even uses his passion for video games to fix his on-field performance. Gray shrinks his strike zone in MLB The Show to force patience against similar pitch sequences. Anker said all of Gray’s batters are hitting over .500 in the video game, and he refuses to face Gray in the game anymore because of how good he is at it.  

Gray said even he is a bit surprised at his rapid success in professional baseball so far. He remembers a time in the batting cage during Spring Training where he realized he had good direction and turn through the baseball, feeling success was coming. But even he didn’t think a promotion out of Bradenton after only 38 games felt realistic at the time.

“You can't play GM, you can't be worried about what's next,” Gray said. “They have their plan, they have their approach, they have you where you're at for a reason. So all you have to do is stay where your feet are and play the game hard.”

• Pittsburgh made a trade on Thursday night to acquire right-handed pitcher Hunter Stratton from the Braves for Joey Bart. The deal added a familiar face for a bullpen option and cleared a catching logjam. Read more >>

• The Pirates continue to struggle with the all-new Automated Ball-Strike System, ranking in the bottom three on both the batting and fielding side. How can they fix it? Read more >> 

• Here are five compelling stats that defined the Pirates' series loss to the Rockies. Read more >>

“It doesn’t feel great, but kind of the best-case scenario where nothing is too messed up in there. I feel like [I was] a little overdramatic, but getting hit in the elbow five starts off of surgery kind of pisses me off. But everything is fine.” -- RHP Jared Jones, after taking a comebacker to his right elbow Sunday.

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