Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Esmerlyn Valdez had no statistical goals in mind when he reported to the Arizona Fall League last month. The 21-year-old wound up being the league's best hitter.

Valdez was named the AFL's Offensive Player of the Year on Friday after leading the league with eight home runs, 27 RBIs, and an .842 slugging percentage in 19 games. The home runs came in the outfielder/first baseman's first nine games.

Valdez ranked second in the AFL in OPS (1.355) and total bases (48), while ranking third in extra-base hits (11), fifth in walks (19), sixth in on-base percentage (.513) and batting average (.368), and tied for eighth in runs scored (19).

"My main goal was to have a good preparation before going to the Fall League," Valdez said. "I wanted to thank the Pirates for the opportunity of being in the Fall League, so I wanted to represent the Pirates and represent myself, and wanted people to remember my name."

People are indeed remembering Valdez's name as his AFL performance came after a fine regular season in the minor leagues. Playing for Double-A Altoona and High-A Greensboro, Valdez hit a combined .286/.376/520 with 26 homers and 86 RBIs in 123 games. Baseball America ranks Valdez as the Pirates' 10th-best prospect.

The 2025 season marked a breakout for Valdez, who was signed as an international amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic for a $130,000 bonus in 2021. In 2024 with Low-A Bradenton, Valdez hit 22 home runs in 107 games, but his slash line was .226/.352/.464.

"If you go back and you look from the time that he's been a Pirate, he's always hit," Pirates director of coaching and player development Michael Chernow said. "It's been at times, I would look at his time in Bradenton last year, it was probably power over hit, and there were some things, some swing and miss concerns, that we addressed and he had to work on and put the work in to fix them.

"What we saw with Valdy coming up was a really strong kid, really, really great personality, really good worker. You see him over time put the work in. You start to see things that you're really impressed with. And then this year, in spring training, he's another guy that stood out. He really came into camp in a good spot physically. He looked more developed physically."

The Pirates' inability to develop power hitters has been glaring since Ben Cherington became general manager before the 2020 season. They were last in MLB with 107 home runs this year and the lowest-scoring teams in the majors while finishing in last place in the National League Central with a 71-91 record.

Valdez will likely not make the major-league club out of spring training next year, but it is reasonable to expect him to make his MLB debut sometime in 2026. Valdez says he will be prepared whenever that time comes.

"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."