Esmerlyn Valdez’s first real rough patch has arrived, and the Pirates are getting a useful look at how their rookie handles it.
Valdez, who burst onto the scene and won July NL Rookie of the Month honors, was hit hard when the calendar flipped to August. Over his first eight games of the month, the 22-year-old managed just 1-for-21 with 16 strikeouts. Even so, he kept finding ways to reach base, drawing 12 walks in that span and posting a .394 on-base percentage despite a .048 batting average.
The skid may have started after he was hit by a pitch on the hand on July 27, but the issue went deeper than one swing or one bruise. Valdez’s contact rate has long been a concern, and opposing pitchers were beginning to figure out how to work him. He has enough strike-zone judgment to avoid chasing bad pitches, but the lack of consistent contact threatened to turn him into a short-lived story.
That’s what makes the response so notable. Valdez has bounced back with a six-game hitting streak from August 11-16, and he looks like he’s doing more than just surviving the slump.
During that stretch, he hit .391, and three of those six games came with multiple hits. It was a sharp answer to the adversity he had just faced.
The biggest question around Valdez has always been the same: can he make enough contact to let his power play? That’s not a simple yes-or-no discussion.
Power hitters often run lower contact rates, but when they do connect, the damage can be much greater. There’s a real tradeoff between impact and empty at-bats.
Contact also isn’t one thing. In-zone contact matters far more than chasing and poking at pitches off the plate.
Valdez’s chase rate sits at 20.9%, which is a good sign because he rarely goes fishing. The flip side is that it naturally drags down his total contact numbers.
So the bar for Valdez isn’t the same as it would be for a slap hitter. His power and discipline can carry a lower contact rate - just not endlessly.
From his first call-up through August 9, Valdez had a 69.7 zone contact rate, a 63.2% total contact rate and a 46% o-zone contact rate. In this six-game stretch, those numbers have jumped to 83.8% in-zone contact, 76.1% overall contact and 44.4% o-zone contact.
It’s still a small sample, but it’s the kind of improvement the Pirates wanted to see. If Valdez can stay anywhere near this level while bringing his power, he’ll be a real problem. It’s far too early to label him a superstar, but it is encouraging to see him take the punch and answer with adjustments, all while attacking the weakness that had been hanging over him.
In Other News...
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Rodrguez has been designated for assignment multiple times this season, but the appeal has remained obvious: strong minor league production with enough power to keep teams interested. The issue, as it has been for him in the majors, is whether that bat can translate when the competition tightens, and that question is still hanging over him even as the Athletics give him another stop in the system. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Face A Brutal Paul Skenes Decision As Season Slips Away
Paul Skenes has been one of the few constants the Pirates could hang onto this season, but even that has become more complicated as the year has gone on. The 2025 NL Cy Young winner has seen his fastball velocity dip and his recent starts have not looked like the same overpowering version that carried Pittsburgh before, even after the club gave him extra rest to try to reset things.
Now with the Pirates slipping out of the playoff picture, the conversation has shifted from how to maximize Skenes down the stretch to whether they should use the remaining weeks to protect him instead. His season ERA has climbed to 3.95, and the organization is left weighing present-day urgency against the longer view, with his future health and effectiveness looming larger than the standings. [Read more 🡒]