Matt Gorski #56

Matthew Thomas Gorski (pronounced GORE-ski)…Wife’s name is Megan...Hit .271 (61-for-225) with 13 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 46 RBI in 55 games as a junior at Indiana University in 2019...Was the highest Indiana University draft pick since Kyle Schwarber was selected fourth overall in the 2014 Draft...Also became the seventh-highest draft pick out of Indiana University and was the 17th overall Hoosier to be picked in the top five rounds...Was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2018 while leading the Hoosiers in batting average (.356), hits (79) and total bases (123)…Was also named an American Baseball Coaches Association first-team All-Mideast Region honoree in 2018…Was named IU’s Rookie-of-the-Year in 2017 along with being a Freshman All-Big Ten selection after hitting .288 with four home runs and 22 RBI in 51 games…Signed by Pirates scout Anthony Wycklendt.

2024

Attended Spring Training as a non-roster invitee for the second straight season...Spent entire season with Indianapolis...Shared the organizational lead in home runs along with Shawn Ross...Also ranked tied for sixth in the International League in home runs, fourth in slugging and tied for fifth in extra base hits (52)…Set Minor League career highs in games, doubles, RBI and walks...Made 37 starts in center field, 30 in left field, 25 in right field and 12 at first base...Went 3-for-5 with a triple, homer and a career-high five RBI on 5/18 vs. Toledo; his home run was measured at 478 feet...Homered twice (fifth career multi-homer game) and had another five RBI on 5/21 at Iowa...Collected his league-leading fifth triple on 5/22 at Iowa...Homered seven times in nine games from 5/18-27...Was named Indy’s Player-of-the-Month for May after he led the team in triples (three), home runs (nine), RBI (28), total bases (59), slugging percentage (.720) and runs (21) in 23 games...Ranked among International League leaders in RBI (first), triples (first), home runs (T-1st), slugging percentage (second), extra-base hits (T-3rd), total bases (T-3rd), runs (T-4th) and OPS (fifth, 1.050) in May... Went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a walk-off home run in the ninth inning on 8/18 vs. St. Paul...Went 4-for-4 with a double, four RBI and hit his 20th home run on 8/29 vs. Louisville.

2023

Attended Spring Training for the first time…Entered the season ranked by Baseball America as possessing the “Best Outfield Arm” along with being the “Best Power Hitter” in the Pirates Minor League system…Hit a combined .231 (96-for-415) with 20 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs and 61 RBI in 108 games between Altoona and Indianapolis…Spent a majority of the season with Altoona, where he led the team in home runs (17) and RBI (54) while finishing tied for second in stolen bases (19)… Was one of two Pirates Minor Leaguers (also Jase Bowen) to record a 20/20 season…Homered in his first at-bat of the season on 4/6 vs. New Hampshire...Hit his first career grand slam on 4/18 vs. Bowie...Hit .325 with a double, three home runs and seven RBI during his 10-game hitting streak from 5/2-12…Played his first professional game at second base in relief of Domingo Leyba on 5/31 vs. Binghamton; his first experience at second since his senior year in high school...Reached base safely in 13 straight games from 5/24 to 6/7… Stole a career-high three bases on 6/15 and 6/18 at Somerset...Went deep twice on 7/4 vs. Erie for his fourth career multi-homer game…Homered again on 7/5 with a game-tying two-run shot in the 10th inning of a 7-6 win in 11 innings...Was placed on the seven-day injured list (hamstring) on 7/21 before being activated on 8/9... Hit safely in 11 straight games from 8/16-30, hitting .289 with four doubles, three home runs and seven RBI…Was promoted to Indianapolis on 9/6…Went deep three times in six games between 9/12-17.

2022

Was named the Willie Stargell Slugger-of-the-Year by the Pirates organization after hitting 24 home runs in a combined 81 games between High-A Greensboro, Double-A Altoona, Low-A Bradenton (rehab) and Triple-A Indianapolis…Began the year with Greensboro…Matched his home run total for all of 2021 after hitting 17 during his time with Greensboro…Was named the South Atlantic League Player-of-the-Week for the week ending on 5/22 after batting .435 (10-for-23) with a double, eight home runs and 11 RBI in six games vs. Bowling Green…Hit three home runs for the first time in his career, including a walk-off solo shot on 5/22…Ranked tied for first in all of Minor League Baseball with 17 home runs at the time he was promoted from Greensboro to Altoona on 5/24; was also first in the South Atlantic League in RBI (37), slugging (.754), OPS (1.131), tied for first in runs scored (34) and second in extra base hits (22) at the time of his promotion on 5/24…Had a go-ahead three-run home run in his Altoona debut on 5/24 at Harrisburg, his MiLB-leading 18th home run…Suffered a left quad injury on 6/29 and was placed on the injured list on 6/30 (his 23 home runs at the time of the injury ranked tied for first in all of Minor League Baseball)…Was activated from the injured list on 9/8 after his five-game rehab assignment with Bradenton…Recorded his 20th stolen base on 9/11 at Erie…Made his Triple-A debut on 9/20 before being placed back on the injured list on 9/21 after reaggravating his quad…Made a combined total of 44 appearances (40 starts) in center field, 13 appearances (12 starts) in right field, 12 appearances (12 starts) at first base and five appearances (four starts) in left field.