Luplow, Brault take home Bucs' honors

The Pirates gave Jordan Luplow his birthday present a little bit early this year.
Three days before he turns 24, Pittsburgh's 20th-ranked prospect was named the organization's Minor League Player of the Year, while Steven Brault was named Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

"It's pretty cool. I just have to thank all my family, teammates and coaches that have helped me along the way," Luplow told MLB.com. "I was just trying to make the 40-man roster at the end of the year before the Rule 5 [Draft]. Then this happened."
Luplow hit .287 with 16 homers and 37 RBIs with Double-A Altoona before getting promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis on June 30. The right fielder's .324/.407/.568 slash line in 21 International League games earned him a trip to "The Show" on July 28.
After going hitless in his first nine at-bats, Luplow was sent back down to the Minors, but it wasn't long before he returned to the Majors for good Aug. 28.
In total, Luplow led Pirates Minor Leaguers with a career-high 23 homers, which nearly doubled his previous best of 12 with Class A West Virginia in 2015. The Fresno State product's .302 composite average ranked second among full-season Pirates prospects and fourth in the system.
Brault bounced between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis this season, but it didn't get in the way of him posting a career-best 1.94 ERA, which matched Scooter Hightower for best in the system. The left-hander tied five other Minor Leaguers with a system-leading 10 wins while notching 109 strikeouts and 44 walks over 120 1/3 innings in 21 games, including 20 starts.
"It's an honor. It's really cool to share this award with the guys I played with this year down in Triple-A. We had an awesome team, and I couldn't have done it without them," Brault told MLB.com. "It was just a great place to play, great place to pitch, and I loved it."
Following his career year, Brault was named International League Pitcher of the Year. The Regis University product was the Pirates' No. 7 prospect before losing his rookie eligibility earlier this month.