Esmerlyn Valdez...Was signed by Pirates scout Victor Santana.
2025
Began the season with Greensboro...Had at least one RBI in a career-high six straight games from April 15-22 (10 RBI total)...Homered three times in four games from April 18-22...Hit .338 (27-for-80) with five doubles, six home runs, 18 RBI, 10 walks, 14 runs scored and a 1.043 OPS in 22 April games...Led the South Atlantic League in OPS and also ranked second in both batting and slugging (.625), tied for second in both hits and home runs, third in total bases (50), tied for fourth in extra-base hits (11) and 10th in OBP (.418) during the month of April...Had at least one RBI in five straight games from April 30-May 4 (G2), collecting nine total RBI during the streak...Homered twice on May 4 (G2) vs. Winston-Salem...Went deep in a career-high three straight games from May 13-15 vs. Rome...Had a career high-tying, nine-game hitting streak from June 8-18, going 18-for-38 (.474) with six doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, five walks, 10 runs scored and a 1.398 OPS during the streak...Finished a triple shy of the cycle after going 4-for-5 with a double, two home runs, and a career-high-tying five RBI on June 21 at Greenville...Led all Pittsburgh Minor Leaguers in doubles, home runs, RBI, slugging, extra-base hits (39) and total bases (164), while also ranking second in hits, runs scored and OPS, third in batting, fourth in OBP and fifth in walks, during his time with Greensboro...Also led the South Atlantic League in batting, hits, home runs, RBI, slugging, OPS, extra-base hits and total bases, while also ranking tied for first in doubles and tied for fourth in runs scored, during his stint with the Grasshoppers...Was named the South Atlantic League’s Most Valuable Player and an SAL All-Star (postseason) after leading the league in slugging and ranking second in both home runs and extra-base hits, fourth in total bases and 10th in RBI...Was promoted to Altoona on July 1 and made his Curve debut that night vs. Harrisburg...Played the final 3.0 innings at first base for the National League in the All-Star Futures Game on July 12 at Atlanta’s Truist Park...Hit his first Double-A home run on Aug. 8 vs. Hartford...Matched his career high when he recorded at least one RBI in six consecutive games from Aug. 23-30 (10 RBI total)...Was named the Eastern League’s Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 25-31 after going 12-for-27 (.444) with a double, four home runs, nine RBI, two walks, nine runs scored and a 1.426 OPS in the six-game series at Harrisburg (homered in three straight games from Aug. 28-30)...Batted .311 (28-for-90) with six home runs, 19 RBI, and a .929 OPS in 24 August games...Ranked tied for third in the Eastern League in home runs and tied for fourth in RBI during the month of August...Finished a triple shy of the cycle after going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, five RBI and three runs scored in the first game of Altoona’s three-game postseason series against Erie...Became the first player in Curve history (since 1999) to record at least five RBI in a postseason game... Batted a combined .286 (131-for-458) with 25 doubles, 26 home runs, 86 RBI, 56 walks, 75 runs scored and an .896 OPS across his 123 regular-season games split between Greensboro and Altoona...Led all Pirates Minor Leaguers in home runs and extra-base hits (53), while also ranking second in total bases (238), tied for second in RBI, third in hits, doubles and runs and fifth in walks (was second among full-season players in slugging, fourth in OPS, seventh in batting and 10th in OBP)...Was recognized as the organization’s Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year during Young Bucs Awards Week...Joined Tony Blanco Jr. as Pittsburgh’s representatives at the Arizona Fall League’s Home Run Derby...Was named to the Rising Stars Team after batting .368 (21-for-57) with eight homers, 27 RBI, 19 walks, 19 runs and a 1.355 OPS in 19 games with the Salt River Rafters...Led the AFL in homers, RBI and slugging (.842) and ranked second in total bases (48) and OPS, third in extra-base hits (11), fifth in OBP (.513), tied for fifth in walks and tied for eighth in runs...Was named the AFL’s Offensive Player of the Year...Was selected to Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster on Nov. 18.
2024
Spent the entire season with Bradenton...Homered in back-to-back games from May 9-10 vs. St. Lucie, including his first career grand slam on May 10...Was placed on the seven-day injured list on June 29...Was reinstated from the IL on July 9 and homered that evening vs. Jupiter...Homered twice while collecting a career-high five RBI the next morning vs. Jupiter...Ranked third among Pirates minor leaguers in home runs, tied for third in extra-base hits (40), fifth in walks, sixth in RBI and eighth in total bases (166), while also ranking seventh among full-season players in slugging and eighth in OPS...Was named a Florida State League All-Star (postseason) after leading the league in homers and OPS, while also ranking second in slugging, tied for third in extra-base hits, fourth in RBI and total bases and fifth in walks and OBP.
2023
Spent the majority of the season with the FCL Pirates...Recorded his first career multi-homer game on June 29 vs. the FCL Twins...Batted .351 (13-for-37) with three doubles, three home runs, 12 RBI, seven walks, five runs scored and a 1.120 OPS in 12 June games...Was named the Florida Complex League’s Player of the Week for the week of June 26-July 2 after going 7-for-14 (.500) with a double, three home runs, seven RBI, five runs scored and a 1.747 OPS in five games...Hit safely in a career-high nine straight games from June 24-July 8, going 15-for-39 (.385) with three doubles, three home runs, 13 RBI, three walks, eight runs scored and a 1.121 OPS during the streak...Batted .410 (25-for-61) with five doubles, two home runs, 17 RBI, five walks, 14 runs scored and a 1.046 OPS in 16 July games...Ranked fifth among all Pirates Minor League players in RBI, as well as tied for fifth in hits and 10th in total bases (36) during the month...Was named the Florida Complex League’s Player of the Month for July after leading the league in batting and ranking tied for first in total bases, second in both hits and OBP, third in both slugging and OPS, tied for third in RBI and tied for fourth in doubles during the month...Played in the the FCL Pirates’ postseason game on Aug. 24 at the FCL Yankees...Ranked fifth in the FCL in both batting and slugging, as well as tied for sixth in RBI and ninth in OPS...Was promoted to Bradenton on Aug. 31...Batted a combined .304 (49-for-161) with 10 doubles, six home runs, 36 RBI, 17 walks, 26 runs and an .877 OPS in his 48 regular-season games split between the FCL Pirates and Bradenton.
2022
Spent the entire season with the FCL Pirates...Hit .350 (14-for-40) with four doubles, a home run, 10 RBI, seven walks, 13 runs scored and a .976 OPS over his 12 July games.
2021
Made his professional debut with the DSL Pirates Gold on July 12 vs. the DSL Brewers 2 (went 0-for-2 with a walk)...Hit his first professional home run and also recorded four RBI during his multi-hit performance on Aug. 3 vs. the DSL Orioles 2.
