Pirates Outfield Prospect Earns Weekly Honors

Valdez slashed .444/.500/.926 for an OPS of 1.426, with 12 hits in 27 at-bats, a double, four home runs, nine RBIs, two walks to six strikeouts and one hit by pitch.

He scored RBIs in five of the six games and had only one game where he didn't have multiple hits in the series vs. Harrisburg.

Valdez hit two solo home runs on Aug. 29 in the 14-3 win, hit a three-run home run in the 9-2 win on Aug. 30 and also hit a two-run home run in the 10-4 defeat on Aug. 28.

His play helped Altoona win four of their six games vs. Harrisburg, improving to 33-24 in the second half, and moving 2.5 games ahead of the Richmond Flying Squirrels in first place of the Eastern League Southwest.

If Altoona finishes on top of their division at the end of the regular season, they'll earn the second playoff spot from their division and have a chance to win the Eastern League Title for the first time since 2017.

Valdez has hit better in recent weeks for Altoona, after earning his promotion from High-A Greensboro on July 1.

He has slashed .267/.366/.438 for an OPS of .804 in 41 games, with 39 hits in 146 at-bats, five doubles, one triple, six home runs and 22 walks to 41 RBIs.

Valdez had a strong August in Double-A, slashing .311/.407/.522 for an OPS of .929, with 28 hits in 90 at-bats, a double, six home runs, 19 RBIs and 15 walks to 24 strikeouts. This came after he hit .196 with no home runs in July.

He 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.

Valdez 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 at the time of his promotion.

He also represented the Pirates in the Futures Game on July 11, putting him amongst the best prospects in baseball. Former Greensboro and current Atloona teammate in top prospect Konnor Griffin joined Valdez there as well.

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.

Valdez has started 34 games in right field for Altoona, plus five starts at designated hitter and two starts at designated hitter. He also started 12 games in left field with Greensboro.

He has slashed .291/.379/.539 for an OPS of .918 over 113 minor league games in 2025, with 123 hits, 23 doubles, two triples, 26 home runs 81 RBIs and 53 walks to 118 strikeouts. Those 26 home runs lead all Pirates minor league players this season.

MLB Pipeline ranks Valdez as the Pirates' 15th best prospect and Pirates fans will hope that he continues improving throughout the remainder of the 2025 season and beyond.