Injured Pirates Prospect Carted Off the Field

Jarrod Prugar of the Altoona Mirror reported that Valdez departed the game in a cart and that Curve manager Andy Fox said Valdez went to the hospital, got x-rays on his lower leg after leaving the game and would have more answers the next day on the severity of the injury.

Valdez himself took to Twitter following the game, ensuring Pirates fans that he if fine, he will return and he is ready to play again.

Valdez dominated at High-A this season, playing as one of the best prospects in the South Atlantic League. He slashed .303/.385/.592 for an OPS of .977 in 72 games, with 84 hits, 18 doubles, one triple, 20 home runs, 57 RBIs and 31 walks to his 77 strikeouts in Greensboro.

He led the South Atlantic League in a number of categories, including hits, home runs, RBIs, batting average, slugging percentage and OPS, plus ranking tied for first in doubles and 11th in on-base percentage.

Valdez earned promotion to Double-A Altoona on July 1 and represented the Pirates in the Futures Game on July 11, putting him amongst the best prospects in baseball. Former Greensboro teammate and top Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin joined Valdez there as well.

He has struggled with the Curve, slashing .171/.275/.257 for an OPS of .532, with six hits in 35 at-bats, three doubles, one run batted in and four walks to nine strikeouts in 11 games.

Valdez has started most of his games in right field, with 30 at Greensboro and seven with Altoona, but also 12 games in left field with Greensboro, 19 total games at designated hitter and 16 total games at first base.

The Pirates signed Valdez to a minor league contract on Jan. 15, 2021 as an international signing from the Dominican Republic.

He played with the Dominican Summer League Pirates, before progressing to the Florida Complex League Pirates (FCL) in 2022, Single-A Bradenton in 2023 and then Greensboro this season, before earning his promotion to Altoona.

MLB Pipeline ranks Valdez as the Pirates' 15th best prospect and fans will hope that the injury isn't severe and that he returns soon.