Enmanuel Valdez Hitting Leadoff For Pirates On Friday
Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Enmanuel Valdez is starting at second base and is hitting leadoff for Friday's series opener at Great American Ball Park against the division-rival Cincinnati Reds and right-hander Brady Singer. Valdez will get a shot at leadoff with outfielder Oneil Cruz (finger) sitting out for the second straight game. The Pirates continue to experiment at the top of their batting order early in the 2025 season. The left-handed-hitting Valdez has started his first season with the Bucs by going just 3-for-17 with a double, triple, two RBI, a run scored, one walk and five strikeouts in seven games played. It will be his first start at the keystone this year with Adam Frazier in right field on Friday. Normally, Valdez will be a bench player for the Pirates, although he'll have deep-sleeper appeal in DFS on Friday in the leadoff spot against a pitcher he's never faced.
The Pirates have acquired infielder/outfielder Enmanuel Valdez in a trade with the Red Sox. Minor league pitcher Joe Vogatsky was shipped to Boston in exchange for Valdez. The 25-year-old debuted for Boston in 2023, playing 125 games and posting a .235-12-47-40-6 line in 372 career plate appearances. It's unclear how the Pirates plan to use the left-handed hitter as they already have Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo, and Nick Yorke who can play his primary position of second base. Vogatsky was the Pirates' 19th-round pick in the 2024 Draft but has yet to make his minor league debut. Neither player figures to have a significant fantasy impact in 2025.
The Boston Red Sox optioned infielder/outfielder Enmanuel Valdez to Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday and recalled infielder/outfielder Jamie Westbrook from Worcester in a corresponding move. The Red Sox also selected the contract of right-hander Trey Wingenter from the minors and designated right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa for assignment. Westbrook will now replace Valdez on Boston's big-league roster as a utility man after Valdez hit just .226 (37-for-164) with six home runs, 26 RBI and 20 runs scored in 56 games in just his second year in the Show. The move to send the 25-year-old back to the farm is good news for fantasy managers that have been relying on regular playing time and the speed of middle infielder David Hamilton. Westbrook, who hits right-handed, made his big-league debut earlier this year and went 4-for-18 with a homer, four RBI and eight K's in 11 games played.
Boston Red Sox infielder Enmanuel Valdez will retreat to the bench for Friday's series opener against the visiting San Diego Padres. David Hamilton will get the nod at second base and will bat second, while Ceddanne Rafaela will man the 6 for Boston and bat in the nine-hole versus Padres right-hander Randy Vasquez. Valdez, 25, has already tied his career-high with six home runs on the year while adding 25 RBI in 162 plate appearances, but he's hitting just .212 (31-for-146) and is mainly just a middle-infield depth option in AL-only leagues for now. Hamilton has been much more productive up the middle for Boston in 2024, slashing .282/.333/.449 with five long balls, 15 RBI, 21 stolen bases and 28 runs scored in 156 at-bats. His speed has made him an asset in mixed fantasy leagues in just his second big-league season.
Boston Red Sox second baseman Enmanuel Valdez went 2-for-3 in Wednesday's 7-3 win over the Blue Jays, recording his sixth home run of the season, which was a solo shot off Jays starter Kevin Gausman. The 25-year-old also walked once and scored three times. The left-handed hitter has a .215 average on the season, but is batting .341 (15-for-44) in June with six doubles, four home runs, 14 RBI, 10 runs scored, a 7:5 BB:K, and one stolen base in 16 games. Although he's having a nice month, Valdez is hard to trust for season-long fantasy, as he rarely gets at-bats versus left-handed pitching and he's likely due for some regression.
Boston Red Sox infielder Enmanuel Valdez went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three RBI, and an additional run scored in Saturday's 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. He blasted a solo shot off Reese Olson in the bottom second inning to the tie game 1-1. His homer traveled 399 feet with an exit velocity of 106.4 mph. He followed up that homer with a two-run blast off Olson again in the bottom of the sixth frame. Valdez was recalled from Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday to replace Tyler O'Neill (knee), who was placed on the 10-day injured list. The 25-year-old is hitting .179 (17-for-95) with four home runs and 14 RBI over 31 games in 2024. Fantasy managers in deep-league or AL-Only formats looking for outfield help can consider adding Valdez to their rosters.
The Boston Red Sox recalled infielder Enmanuel Valdez on Wednesday to take the roster spot of outfielder Tyler O'Neill (knee), with the latter being placed on the 10-day injured list. Valdez, 25, will be in his second stint with the Red Sox this season and made his debut in 2023. Valdez performed well in 49 games for the BoSox in 2023 with a .266 batting average and six homers, but has struggled in 29 games this season for the big-league club with a .156 batting average and two homers in 29 games. Valdez has graduated from the Red Sox prospect lists, but it wasn't too long ago that he was one of the more exciting names on it. The infielder is likely to serve a bench role and offers minimal value. He is best left on the waiver wire for time being.
Boston Red Sox infielder Enmanuel Valdez has been optioned to Triple-A Worcester with Vaughn Grissom (hamstring) likely to make his Red Sox debut on Friday against the Minnesota Twins. The 25-year-old struggled mightily at the plate to begin the season, hitting just .156 with two homers and just a 4.1% walk rate against a bloated 30.6% strikeout rate across 98 trips to the plate. His 18 wRC+ suggests his offensive production was a whopping 82% below the league average. Valdez was much better in his big-league debut last season, when he hit .266 with six homers, five stolen bases, and a 102 wRC+ across 49 games and 149 trips to the plate.
Boston Red Sox infield prospect Enmanuel Valdez was 2-for-4 in his major-league debut with two singles and one strikeout. The Dominican native was called up to fill in for Yu Chang (paternity list). While he has struggled to start the season in Triple-A Worcester with a line of .179/.289/.333, the Red Sox called him up over fellow minor-league infielder David Hamilton because of Valdez's spring training performance. In 15 spring training games, the 24-year-old slashed .214/.389/.429 with two home runs. He was optioned to Triple-A soon after the game, but he's now the clear preferred call-up for an injury-prone Red Sox middle infield. Valdez is only worth rostering if he's afforded an extended run at the major-league level.
Boston Red Sox infield prospect Enmanuel Valdez will start at second base in the team's first spring training game on Friday against Northeastern. The Red Sox like what they have in Valdez, whom they acquired from the Houston Astros for catcher Christian Vazquez last August. The 24-year-old hit .296 with a .376 on-base percentage, .542 slugging percentage, .918 OPS, 28 home runs, 35 doubles, two triples, 107 RBI, 92 runs and eight steals in 126 games between Double-A and Triple-A last year. In addition to second base, he also saw time at first, third, right field and left field. Manager Alex Cora said the team will move him around the infield this spring. Valdez may not make the big-league roster out of spring training, but he's a youngster to watch if he eventually sees regular playing time at the keystone in 2023.
Enmanuel Valdez
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Pirates
