The Cubs today announced that infielder Jonathon Long was the winner of the Buck O’Neil Cubs Minor League Player of the Year and that right-hander Jostin Florentino was the Vedie Himsl Cubs Minor League Pitcher
of the Year.
Long, 23, was a ninth-round pick out of Long Beach State in 2023. In his third season in the Cubs system, Long played the entire season for Triple-A Iowa and hit an impressive .305/.404/.479 with 20 home runs, 91 RBI and 86 runs scored. He led all Cubs minor leaguers in runs, hits (157) and RBI and was second in walks (79) and OPS (.883).
Long, a native of Orange, CA, is ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the Cubs system by MLB Pipeline. He was named the the International League Post-season All-Star team.
Florentino, 20, was 5-5 with a 2.43 ERA between the Arizona Complex League Cubs and the Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Between the two levels, Florentino struck out 101 and walked 25 over 81.1 innings. He made 16 appearances with 14 starts.
After starting the season in the Complex League, Florentino was promoted to Myrtle Beach on June 7. With the Pelicans, Florentino went 4-3 with a 1.96 ERA over 11 appearances and ten starts. He allowed three runs or fewer in 10 of his 11 outings.
Florentino was the Carolina League Pitcher of the Month for July after he went 1-0 with a 0.43 ERA in four appearances (three starts) that month. He struck out 26 in 21 innings that month.
Florentino was also named to Carolina League Post-Season All-Star team.
Florentino is a native of the Dominican Republic and signed with the Cubs as an international free agent in 2023. This was his first season in the US after playing the previous two years in the Dominican Summer League.
