GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- There is no professional hitter currently hotter than Esmerlyn Valdez.
The Pirates’ 21-year-old outfield prospect hammered two more home runs Sunday during Salt River’s 11-3 win over Glendale at Goodyear Ballpark, giving him seven roundtrippers in eight games. He’s 10-for-20 during his time in the Arizona Fall League, leading the circuit with a 1.600 slugging percentage and a 2.286 OPS.
“My swing is perfect [right now], bro,” Valdez laughed.
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Even for a traditionally offense-friendly circuit, Valdez’s early success has been downright historic.
To put in context how tremendously hot Pittsburgh’s No. 15 prospect is at the dish through the first two weeks of Fall League play, consider that he’s already tied for 14th on the circuit’s single-season home run list. He’s hit as many home runs in eight games as a 19-year-old Ronald Acuña Jr. did across 23 contests in 2017. Josue Briceno, the Tigers’ No. 3 and MLB’s No. 33 overall prospect, who became the first player in AFL history to win the Triple Crown last year, led the circuit with 10 roundtrippers in 106 plate appearances.
Brandon Wood holds the single-season home run mark with 14, set back in 2005 during his time as an Angels prospect. But he got there in 29 games. Valdez has nearly four more full weeks of action -- the regular season concludes on Nov. 12 -- to challenge that mark.
A hot streak the likes of Valdez's has almost never been seen at the big league level either. In fact, the only time a Major Leaguer has ever posted an OPS higher than Valdez's 2.286 over the span of eight games was April 11-21, 2004, when Barry Bonds had marks of 2.859 and 2.740 over two eight-game runs within that period.
“Seeing the work ethic, seeing the way he interacts with his teammates, he’s a great human being, great individual,” said Salt River manager and Triple-A Indianapolis bench coach Eric Patterson. “He just does a really nice job controlling his ABs. When he first got out here, I think he was getting spun to death on all offspeed and he's done a really nice job of just staying in his zone, not chasing. It's a very mature at-bat.”
That’s exemplified by just how hard Valdez is hitting the ball. In the first inning Sunday, he ripped a first-pitch opposite-field RBI double at 106.1 mph off the bat. The lone out he made in the game -- a groundout in the third -- came off the bat at 104.8 mph. The homers, in the fourth and sixth respectively, were 107.9 and 108.3 mph.
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There were just 16 instances during the 2025 Major League season of a batter putting four balls in play at 104+ mph, which included All-Star names like Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Corbin Carroll and Pete Alonso.
When hitters are going good in the box, the phrase that’s often used is that the ball looks big on its way in. When Valdez was asked if that’s what’s currently happening, his eyes widened in agreement and he smiled with a drawn-out “Yeaaaaah.”
“I’m watching my at-bats [back] everyday,” said Valdez, who cited Pirates Minor League hitting development coordinator Jonathan Johnston as instrumental in working with the outfielder on his swing mechanics and pitch selection, with the two diving deep to put Valdez into counts in which he can do damage.
Going on a home run heater isn’t entirely new territory to Valdez. He notched three homers in two games on four separate occasions during 2023 and ‘24 between the Rookie-level Florida Complex League and Single-A Bradenton. This season, he homered in three straight games for High-A Greensboro from May 13-15, before mashing four taters in a three-game stretch with Double-A Altoona from Aug. 28-30.
After homering in his Fall League debut on Oct. 7 and then again the following day, Valdez hammered long balls on Oct. 14, 15 and 16. His “perfect swing” has been a work in progress since arriving in Arizona, even after he swatted an organization-high 26 home runs between Greensboro and Altoona.
“He's finding ways to get on base. When they do make mistakes, he's making them pay,” Patterson said. “To watch these guys kind of navigate an at-bat and see them kind of hit what they want to hit -- to go up there with a plan and stick to it -- it's really cool to see.”