SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — During the regular season, a Pirates prospect’s meteoric rise earned Konnor Griffin – now MLB’s No. 1 overall — Hitting Prospect of the Year honors. During the fall, fellow 2025 National League All-Star Futures Game representative Esmerlyn Valdez enjoyed his own offensive flurry in the desert en route to being named the Arizona Fall League’s Offensive Player of the Year.
Here’s a by-the-numbers breakdown of Valdez’s time in the Fall League, with his rankings in parentheses:
AVG: .368 (6th)
OBP: .513 (T-5th)
SLG: .842 (1st)
OPS: 1.355 (2nd)
HR: 8 (1st)
RBIs: 27 (1st)
ISO: .474 (1st)
Total bases: 48 (2nd)
Valdez became the first member of the Pirates organization to take home an on-field performance-based Fall League award and the first to collect hardware since Cole Tucker was named the Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award winner in 2018. The right-handed-hitting outfielder was the sixth winner of Offensive Player of the Year honors, with four of the previous five winners having gone on to make their Major League debuts.
“He’s an unbelievable hitter,” said Salt River third-base coach Erick Salcedo, who also served as Valdez’s pitcher during the AFL Home Run Derby. “We know how crazy baseball is — you got good moments, you got bad moments and the way you need to make adjustments is important. For Valdez right now, he’s in a good spot.”
The Fall League provides a small sample size. But in many ways, Valdez’s turn with the Rafters was something of a tale of two halves. In his first 10 games, he mashed eight home runs and seemed primed to challenge for the circuit’s all-time home run record. While his power cooled over the final 10 contests, he continued to rack up the RBIs (11) and reached safely in eight of those outings, adjusting to the adjustments.
Valdez eight roundtrippers tied for 18th all time in the Fall League, besting marks set by Ronald Acuña Jr. (seven, 2017), Bryce Harper (seven, 2011) and many other All-Stars during their respective times on the circuit.
“I think it’s probably unrealistic to expect anyone to continue at that pace, but when he was going through that stretch, he was just doing a really good job of controlling his ABs, taking his walks when they were there and when guys made mistakes or he got the pitches he was looking for, he did not miss them,” said Salt River manager Eric Patterson, who served as Triple-A Indianapolis’ bench coach this year. “I think … just understanding that you’re going to have ebbs and flows in this game, and if you just kind of stay consistent with your approach, consistent with your work, good things will happen for you.”
The timing of Valdez’s breakout couldn’t be better for the Pirates’ No. 15 prospect, who is facing Rule 5 Draft protection this winter. If the organization wants to avoid potentially losing him to another club, they’ll need to add him to its 40-man roster. It’s been a significant rise for the 21-year-old, who has grown exponentially from the player who hit just .226 during a 107-game run with Single-A Bradenton in 2024. He cited his increased aggressiveness and desire to hunt pitches that he could do damage on earlier in the count, rather than trying to solely connect with one type of offering, as the primary points of emphasis.
Valdez is keenly aware of who he has become as a hitter — and that’s as a potential middle-of-the-order force. It began to show with Bradenton but crystallized this year during his time with High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona, where he combined for an organization-high 26 home runs. He’s there to mash — 13 balls were put in play with 105+ mph exit velocity during the AFL — and make sure that runs come across the plate. The only member of the Pirates organization to finish with more RBIs in 2025? That Griffin guy, again.
“Every time I go to home plate, I say, ‘I need more RBI,’” Valdez laughed.
In many ways, that’s the legacy Valdez will leave in the Fall League: he’s a laughing, boisterous presence with his teammates, one whom Patterson lauded as “a great human being” who has been steadfast in attention to detail, including wanting to practice doing media interviews in English. He’s left no stone unturned in his quest to become a complete hitter, one who now finds himself in the AFL record book.
“What I hear about him, he’s got good people around, pushing him in the right way,” said Salcedo. “It’s impressive to see at a young age the way he goes through his business.
“If he keeps developing himself — and he’s in a really good spot right now — we’re gonna see him soon in the big leagues because he’s got the tools for sure.”
