On my first farm report I said that I felt like I would be writing a lot about Esmerlyn Valdez after an impressive opening weekend. He certainly listened, because he is highlighting a prospect report after he once again set AAA on fire with his amazing eye and pure raw power. In his last five games Esmerlyn slashed .294/.455/.529 totaling an OPS of .984. He also has two moonshot home runs to go along with these insane hitting rates as well. What is more impressive to me, however, is just how good of contact Valdez is able to make. Esermlyn has drastically improved his swing decisions, and because of that he is making extremely good contact. He has walked twice as much as he has struck out, and his in zone contact rate is running at an absurd 87.5%. In the early season he is making contact like a Jake Mangum but with the power of Brandon Lowe. It’s hard to not get excited about how he can contribute to this team down the stretch in August and September, and he is on pace to force his way onto the MLB roster far sooner than anyone reasonably expected of him.
Seth Hernandez
The Pirates selected Seth Hernandez with their first round pick of the 2025 draft, and we finally got to witness his first professional start. What we learned in his three innings is that the 19-year-old might already be too good for Single-A Bradenton. Hernandez struck out eight batters over his three innings of work, generating a staggering 18 whiffs during that period. He was so dominant and impressive that it should be noted that in the first inning alone he hit three digits eleven times. Despite being great with his fastball, Seth also managed to show off how good his changeup and curveball were as well and the poor Dunedin Blue Jays had no answers for him.
Hernandez being just 19 and having three pitches grade out at 105 stuff+ is simply absurd. He is making the Bradenton Marauders must watch baseball with his dazzling arsenal of pitches that are frankly too good for the competition he is in. I am willing to put money down based on one start that we will see this kid debut in the majors before he is legally able to drink if this is how good he looks and is able to control his pitches. He even finished with 0 walks, which is usually one of the largest problems young pitchers with elite stuff face.
Jhonny Severino
Jhonny Severino came over at the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for Carlos Santana. He is looking to improve on a rather bad 2025 season where he posted a meager .636 OPS over the course of 113 games. So far, he is finally showing some flashes of the guy that Cherington saw when he traded for him. In his first week of the season Severino is off to a torrid start, batting .350 and slugging .500. He is taking full advantage of the offensive-happy park in Greensboro, and he is also doing a great job of keeping the strikeouts down. He has only struck out twice over his first 20 plate appearances, in contrast to his seven hits and big home run. This has been a year where the Pirates have had several promising bats emerge as breakout candidates, and Severino could join that group if he manages to maintain this type of play through Greensboro into Altoona.
Leave a Reply