Pirates Prospect Update: Trio of minor leaguers earn weekly honors

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the No. 2 farm system in all of baseball according to Baseball America, and their star power was on full display throughout the minor leagues last week.

A trio of prospects in the Pirates' farm system – two at Double-A and one at High-A – earned weekly honors in their respective leagues for their dominant performances during the final week of August, with the Double-A duo sweeping the Eastern League's weekly awards for just the fourth time in franchise history.

Pirates Prospect Update: Trio of minor leaguers earn weekly honors

Esmerlyn Valdez (OF, Double-A Altoona)

Esmerlyn Valdez, the Pirates' No. 15 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was named the Eastern League Player of the Week on Monday after his electric performance last week with Double-A Altoona.

Valdez, who leads all Pirates minor leaguers with 26 home runs this season, batted .444 (12-for-27) with one double, four homers and nine RBI last week during Altoona's series at Harrisburg. He recorded his third multi-homer game of the season on August 29 and homered in three straight games for the first time in his career from Aug. 28-30.

Since joining Altoona, Valdez has reached base safely in 34 of 41 games and batted .311 with six home runs and 19 RBI in 24 games during the month of August. He and No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffineach hit a pair of homers on Friday at Harrisburg, marking the seventh time in Altoona's franchise history that the club had two different players hit two homers in the same game.

Wilber Dotel (RHP, Double-A Altoona)

Valdez's teammate in Altoona, Wilber Dotel, was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week. In 10 2/3 innings over two starts last week, he allowed just two hits and four walks while striking out nine.

Dotel has struck out 124 batters this season, tied for third in the league. He went 3-2 with a 2.60 ERA with 29 strikeouts during the month of August, and he enters play on Tuesday tied for first in games started (25), fourth in innings pitched (118 2/3) and fifth in batting average against (.237) and WHIP (1.21).

Carlson Reed (RHP, High-A Greensboro)

Down at High-A Greensboro, right-handed pitcher Carlson Reed was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week after tossing six shutout innings against Wilmington while tying a career-high with 10 strikeouts. 

For Reed, the honor comes amid the worst season of his minor league career overall. He has pitched to a 4.15 ERA over 65 innings in 17 starts – well above his career ERA of 2.79 – but last week's performance could be an indication that he's turning things around in time to finish the season on a high note.