Esmerlyn

Valdez

We’re still early enough in spring training that these large batches of cuts don’t usually come with any major surprises. Harrington pitched well in Grapefruit League action, posting a 1.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and a 2/3 K/BB ratio over six innings. He should get an opportunity with the Pirates at some point during the 2026 campaign.

Valdez’s slam off Jack Dallas was a 361-foot, opposite-field liner that left his bat at 106.7 mph. An intriguing outfield prospect, Valdez was added to the Pirates’ 40-man roster in November after hitting .286/.376/.520 between High-A and Double-A last year. He’ll likely return to Double-A to open this year, and his chances of getting a look in the second half could hinge on the performance of Jhostynxon Garcia, a rather similar prospect who is clearly ahead of him on the depth chart at this point.

Valdez is the clear headliner on the heels of a transcendent Arizona Fall League campaign where he batted .368/.513/.842 with eight round-trippers in 19 games. The 21-year-old slugger’s emergence gives the Pirates another potential high-impact bat to pair with blue-chip prospects Konnor Griffin and Edward Florentino, who will enter next season among the top-ranked talents in baseball. He’s officially protected from selection in next month’s Rule 5 Draft and should enter next spring as one of the more exciting talents for fantasy managers to monitor in the upper minors.

Valdez has been the talk of the desert this fall, slashing .370/.519/.870 with eight homers and 26 RBI across 18 games. The 21-year-old slugger’s emergence gives the Pirates another potential high-impact bat to pair with blue-chip prospects Konnor Griffin and Edward Florentino, who will enter next season among the top-ranked talents in baseball. Here’s the full lineup: Nick Morabito (CF), Seaver King (2B), Parks Harber (1B), Valdez (RF), Owen Ayers (C), Nacho Alvarez Jr. (3B), Chris Suero (DH), Starlyn Caba (SS) Josh Adamczewski (LF) and Karson Milbrandt (P).

The towering 6-foot-7, 243-pound slugger recorded some truly astronomical exit velocities during the showcase, including an eye-popping 122.9 mph laser beam to left field and a 19.7 mph moonshot as part of a 24-homer barrage, to edge teammate Esmerlyn Valdez — the hottest hitter in the entire AFL this fall — for the crown. He batted .259/.359/.500 with eight homers in 30 games this past season in the lower rungs of Pittsburgh’s system and is certainly a name to watch as he reaches the upper minors given his power potential. The 20-year-old power-hitter dedicated the derby win to his late father, former big leaguer Tony Blanco Sr., who passed away back in April during the nightclub tragedy in the Dominican Republic.

No prospect has boosted their dynasty stock more in the early stages of the AFL campaign than Valdez, who has gone deep a staggering eight times in just nine games. The 21-year-old burgeoning slugger’s two-homer outburst over the weekend included four batted balls over 104 mph in the same contest — a feat that occurred only 16 times this past season in the majors, per MLB Pipeline’s Jesse Borek. Valdez’s meteoric rise gives Pittsburgh another high-end offensive talent in the upper minors to pair with Konnor Griffin — the consensus top prospect in baseball — and Edward Florentino heading into next season. At some point, the stratospheric power numbers in the desert stop whispering and start shouting — and in dynasty leagues, Valdez is getting too loud to ignore.

No player is helping his stock more in the AFL than Valdez. The 21-year-old leads the AFL with seven home runs in eight games while also knocking in 13 runs, hitting .500, and posting an absurd 3/13 K/BB ratio. After a strong season at Double-A in 2025, Valdez should start the season in Triple-A and might even push for MLB at-bats in 2026 if the Pirates are interested in winning games.

Valdez now leads the AFL with four home runs in five games. He has also taken 10 walks while striking out just three times, which is incredibly impressive for somebody with his raw power. The 21-year-old is really emerging as a potential impact bat for the Pirates as early as the 2026 season.

Valdez, the Pirates’ 15th-ranked prospect, had a breakout season this year, slashing .286/.376/.520 with 26 home runs, 86 RBI, and three steals in 123 games. He split time pretty evenly between High-A and Double-A, and a strong AFL season could potentially allow him to begin next season at Triple-A if the Pirates wanted to be aggressive. His two home runs in the AFL have both gone over 400 feet, with one registering 108 mph off the bat and the other at 114 mph off the bat, so there is plenty of power to get excited about in his profile.