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One thing was very clear when the Pittsburgh Pirates announced their roster of prospects heading to the Arizona Fall League: They were prioritizing players with serious power.
Top prospect Esmerlyn Valdez was the most notable figure of the bench, as his 26 home runs and .520 slugging percentage this season can attest. Likewise, Axiel Plaz (10 home runs, .414 SLG) and Tony Blanco Jr. (eight home runs in 30 games) showed off their pop in 2025.
Th decision to send those guys to the AFL makes sense, seeing as the major league team was about as effective as a little league squad in terms of power production in 2025. Pittsburgh's 117 homers were 31 shy of the 29th-ranked team this season, and Oneil Cruz led the team with just 20 blasts. Pittsburgh is in need of fence-clearers in the worst way.
Luckiy, there's some good news to report on that front. While things have generally been going well for a lot of the Pirates' representatives, all three of their hitters are stealing the show most profoundly, emerging as bona fide studs.
Stop us if you’ve heard this before, Esmerlyn Valdez has homered for the Rafters.
— MLB's Arizona Fall League (@MLBazFallLeague) October 19, 2025
It’s the FOURTH this week for the Pirates No. 15 prospect who leads all batters with six total in his 2025 campaign. pic.twitter.com/i6IcpWTg9U
Esmerlyn Valdez emerging as superstar in AFL as Pirates prospects dominate at the plate
Valdez has been arguably the best hitter in the league this year, and his prospect stock is sure to skyrocket after the start he's had in the AFL.
In his first 11 games with the Salt River Rafters, Valdez has started in right field in every contest while leading the team in every notable hitting statistic. His 2.053 OPS leads the league among players with at least 20 at-bats, though you'd probably figure that if you read that number again.
You'll probably need to sit down for this, but the 21-year-old is hitting .517/.674/1.379 in 46 plate appearances, and he's already hit eight home runs(!!!), which is more than double anyone else in the AFL. Pitchers are clearly terrified of him, seeing as he's worked 15 walks against just five strikeouts.
And, just for a bit of fun, know that you'd have to combine the slugging percentages of the Pirates' top three sluggers this season (Spencer Horwitz, Bryan Reynolds, and Cruz) just to approximate (1.214 SLG) what Valdez is doing in the AFL right now.
Compared to that historic performance, Blanco and Plaz have almost no way of standing out, but they've been excellent in their own right. Blanco, a 20-year-old who has split his time between catcher and DH for the Rafters, is hitting .292/.414/.458 through his first seven games in the AFL, and he's got two extra-base hits (one double, one home run) in just 24 at-bats.
Meanwhile, Plaz was actually assigned to a different team in order to get more playing time, and the first baseman and catcher has made good on the decision. He's hit a wildly impressive .423/.545/.423 in seven games for the Scottsdale Scorpions, showcasing a well-beyond-his-years plate approach (seven walks, five strikeouts) that has made up for a lack of extra-base hits.
In all, it's tough to complain about the showing Pirates hitters have put on in the AFL thus far. If Valdez can continue this torrid stretch, he's a shoo-in for the league MVP award, and he may have already put himself on the radar for a 2026 debut.