Pirates' Esmerlyn Valdez Suffers Season-Ending Injury

Cherington said that he suffered between a Grade 1 and a Grade 2 hamstring tear, with Grade 1 being mild and not much torn muscle, and Grade 2 being more moderate and having some tearing involved.

This could take as little as two to four weeks, which would have him back ready and healthy by the end of the season or later, Sept. 25 to Oct. 9, or six to eight weeks, around Oct. 23 to Nov. 6.

“Yeah, it will. It’s like a Grade 1 to 2, somewhere in between a 1 or a 2," Cherington said. "You go from two to four weeks to six to eight weeks, so it’s probably somewhere in between that, which is going to end his season."

Pirates Keeping Faith in Valdez for 2027

The Pirates won't have a key bat in their lineup for the final two weeks of 2026, but they still have optimism for Valdez's future.

Valdez hit .232/.345/.510 for an OPS of .855 in 72 games as a rookie, with 56 hits, 14 doubles, a triple, 17 home runs, 47 RBI and 42 walks to 108 strikeouts.

He was especially exceptional towards the end of June, becoming the first Pirates player since Corey Dickerson in 2018 to hit a home run in four straight games, June 26 to June 29.

Valdez also won National League Rookie of the Month honors for July, batting .250/.355/.587 for an OPS of .942, with 23 hits, five doubles, eight home runs and 25 RBI.

Cherington said that they're focused on Valdez being ready for the start of his offseason workouts and that they want to get him back to full health through October to do that, as they see him as a big part of the 2027 Pirates.

“The important thing now is we need to get him in a really good spot before the normal part of his offseason. So we’ll use the rest of this season and October to really make sure that he’s in a good spot physically, in terms of recovery, so he can have a good, productive, normal offseason and get ahead of that.

“He’s done enough on the field this year to tell us that he can be part, has to chance to be part of a good winning team next year. We got to make sure he’s in a physical position to do that.”