Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 51F. SW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph..
Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 51F. SW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: May 22, 2026 @ 4:29 pm
TORONTO (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates recalled prospect Esmerlyn Valdez from Triple-A Indianapolis after a recent hot streak and had him in the lineup in right field Friday night for their game at Toronto.
Valdez, 22, hit five home runs in the last five games and was batting .355 with seven extra-base hits, 10 RBIs, a .903 slugging percentage and 1.315 OPS in his last eight.
Valdez hit .253 with 10 homers, 10 doubles and 29 RBIs in 46 games with Indianapolis this season. He also has 33 walks.
The right-handed hitter is the organization's No. 9 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He led Pittsburgh’s minor league system with 26 home runs last season and represented the club at the All-Star Futures Game.
Valdez was signed by Pittsburgh as a nondrafted free agent on Jan. 15, 2021.
Pittsburgh optioned outfielder Billy Cook to Indianapolis following Thursday’s game at St. Louis.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Guest876589 said:
TrueLocalGal said:
What an amazing story. There is always hope
CA Is Burning said:
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