Before Esmerlyn Valdez made noise in the Arizona Fall League by hitting eight home runs in his first nine games, he led all Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguers in homers this season.

So it was befitting that the Pirates named the 21-year-old outfielder/first baseman who hit 26 home runs across two minor league levels was named the organization’s Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year

“I wanted to thank the Pirates for the opportunity of being in the Fall League,” Valdez said Wednesday on a video conference call, “so I want to represent the Pirates and represent myself and want people to remember my name.”

The Pirates also named Brandan Bidois the recipient of the Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year award and shortstop Konnor Griffin their Bill Mazeroski Defender of the Year, as announced by director of coaching and player development Michael Chernow.

Valdez hit a combined .286/.376/.520 with 25 doubles, two triples, 26 home runs, 86 RBIs and 75 runs scored in 123 games split between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona this past season. The 26 homers ranked third in all of the minors among players 21 years or younger, trailing only Seattle’s Lazaro Montes (32) and the New York Mets’ Ryan Clifford (29).

Valdez was named the South Atlantic League’s Most Valuable Player despite being promoted to the Curve on July 1. He ranked first in the league in slugging (.592), second in both home runs (20) and extra-base hits (39), fourth in total bases (164) and 10th in RBIs (57).

Greensboro manager Blake Butler said that after dealing with “a lot of swing and miss” in 2024, when Valdez batted .226 with 133 strikeouts at Low-A Bradenton, that he was determined to become a well-rounded hitter by improving his batting average and not just hitting home runs.

“I was a little worried that this guy would come to Greensboro and just try to put balls over the scoreboard all year. He was committed to wanting to hit .300. That was in his head from the start of spring training,” Butler said, noting that hitting coaches Jon Prieto and Jonathan Roof watched video with Valdez and talked daily about his approach.

“He’s talking about his at-bats in a really high-level way. Just a year removed from where he was this past offseason, as the guys who hit a bunch of home runs but struck out a lot to now being a guy who hit over .300 who was player of the year in our league, went on and found some success after some early struggles in Double-A, to now being the best player in the Fall League, in just such a short amount of time, it’s really exciting.”

Signed as undrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic, Valdez is ranked the Pirates’ No. 15 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 22 by Baseball America. He’s eligible for the Rule 5 Draft but is expected to be protected after leading the AFL in in home runs (eight), slugging (1.281), OPS (1.941), runs scored (16), extra-base hits (nine) and total bases (41), while also ranking tied for first in walks (16), second in both batting (.500) and OBP (.660) and third in RBIs (18).

Valdez hopes to make it to the major leagues next season.

“I feel like I’m ready,” Valdez said. “I’m putting the work in. If the team decides to give me the opportunity, I’m going to be ready whenever they call my name.”

Like Valdez, Bidois was signed by the Pirates as an undrafted international free agent out of Brisbane, Australia. He missed the 2020 season because of the pandemic then pitched six innings in 2021 before undergoing Tommy John surgery so it’s been a slow climb. Since making his professional debut, Bidois has posted a record of 11-5 with 17 saves, a 2.02 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a .154 batting average against while rising from Low-A Bradenton to Triple-A Indianapolis.

“Just kind of learning myself, learning how to pitch, growing up and being a part of that role of the game definitely has taught me some valuable lessons on what I need to do to be successful,” Bidois said.

The 24-year-old Bidois went a combined 8-0 with seven saves, a 0.74 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and a .110 batting average against in 40 appearances split amongst the four levels in 2025.

Most impressive is that Bidois compiled a streak of facing 64 consecutive batters without allowing a hit, which stretched from July 29 at Portland (with Altoona) to Sept. 9 against Iowa (with Indianapolis). That’s the equivalent of two-plus no-hitters.

“It was sick,” Bidois said by video conference call. “I wasn’t really thinking about it, but it got to a point where you don’t want to think about it but it’s kind of in the back of your head. Not really a good thing to have. It was pretty incredible. Just sticking to what I do best and trying to do it as much as I can kind of created that success for me. The streak, it was cool. Try to do it again.”

Griffin, on the other hand, was the Pirates’ first-round pick (No. 9 overall) in 2024 and emerged as baseball’s consensus top prospect this summer. He was named Baseball America’s minor league player of the year in 2025, largely because of his offensive exploits.

The 19-year-old also shined defensively, as he made seven errors in 757 innings at shortstop in 89 games across three levels in his first pro season. He also played 15 games in center field between Low-A Bradenton, High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona, where he did not commit an error in 129 innings (40 total chances).

Griffin is the heavy favorite to win the Pirates’ Honus Wagner Player of the Year Award, which will be announced Thursday along with the Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year Award.

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