Who Should I Trade?

Carlos Cortes for Esmerlyn Valdez (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Carlos Cortes LF,RF,DH - ATH
Expert Recommendation	80% Recommended by 4 of 5 experts	20% Recommended by 1 of 5 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 167	# 166
VBR	# 239	# 810

Projections

Runs	18	13
Home Runs	6	4
RBI	20	14
Stolen Bases	0	0
Batting Average	.239	.247

Misc

Injury Alert	-	-

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 118	# 187

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 99	# 131

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 188	# 241

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 128	# 188

Mike Maher BettingPros	‐	# 135

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Carlos Cortes LF,RF,DH - ATH
2026 Stats


At Bats	133	225

Runs	26	22

Hits	37	60

Singles	14	40

Doubles	8	12

Triples	1	1

Home Runs	14	7

RBI	36	27

Stolen Bases	0	1

Caught Stealing	1	0

Walks	20	22

Strikeouts	56	36

Batting Average	.278	.267

On Base Pct	.374	.340

Slugging Pct	.669	.422

On-base Plus Slugging	1.043	.762

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Carlos Cortes LF,RF,DH - ATH
2026 Projections


At Bats	130	104

Runs	18	13

Hits	31	26

Singles	18	16

Doubles	6	6

Triples	0	0

Home Runs	6	4

RBI	20	14

Stolen Bases	0	0

Caught Stealing	0	0

Walks	15	9

Strikeouts	43	23

Batting Average	.239	.247

On Base Pct	.322	.313

Slugging Pct	.443	.412

On-base Plus Slugging	.766	.724

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Carlos Cortes LF,RF,DH - ATH
News
	Esmerlyn Valdez is expected to be in the lineup in Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Carlos Cortes went 2-for-4 in a win over the Nationals with a home run, one double, one walk, two runs scored, and two RBI. Chris Schommer Sun, Jul 19th
	The Pirates didn’t provide an update on Esmerlyn Valdez following Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Carlos Cortes went 1-for-4 in Wednesday’s win over the Brewers with a solo home run. Chris Schommer Thu, Jun 11th
	Esmerlyn Valdez was removed from Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks after being hit by a pitch on the left hand. Ari Koslow Mon, Jul 27th	Carlos Cortes went 2-for-4 in a win over the Padres with a solo home run and one walk. Chris Schommer Mon, May 25th
	Esmerlyn Valdez went 2-for-3 with a home run in the Pirates 8-7 win over the Cubs on Sunday. Ari Koslow Mon, Jul 27th	Carlos Cortes went 3-for-4 in a win over the Rangers with a triple and two RBI. Chris Schommer Mon, Apr 27th
	Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-3 with a home run in the Pirates 8-5 loss against the Yankees on Monday. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 21st	Carlos Cortes went 2-for-4 in Friday’s 8-1 win over the Rangers with two home runs, two runs scored, and four RBI. Chris Schommer Sat, Apr 25th
Notes
There are no recent notes for these players

Who Should I Trade? Player Schedules
Date	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT			Carlos Cortes LF,RF,DH - ATH
Fri, Mar 27th				@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#30
Sat, Mar 28th	@ NYM	David Peterson (6-7)	#67	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#9
Sun, Mar 29th	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (7-7)	#28	@ TOR	Eric Lauer (6-5)	#370
Mon, Mar 30th	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133
Tue, Mar 31st	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#330	@ ATL	Jose Suarez	#184
Wed, Apr 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	@ ATL	Chris Sale (12-6)	#5
Fri, Apr 3rd	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-9)	#49	vs HOU	Cristian Javier (1-1)	#179
Sat, Apr 4th	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#73	vs HOU	Tatsuya Imai (6-4)	#151
Sun, Apr 5th	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#261	vs HOU	Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3)	#290
Tue, Apr 7th	vs SD	Nick Pivetta (1-2)	#107	@ NYY	Cam Schlittler (10-6)	#14
Wed, Apr 8th	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#58	@ NYY	Will Warren (7-5)	#68
Thu, Apr 9th				@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57
Fri, Apr 10th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25	@ NYM	Clay Holmes (4-4)	#116
Sat, Apr 11th	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#79	@ NYM	Kodai Senga (0-7)	#187
Sun, Apr 12th	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38
Mon, Apr 13th	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (10-8)	#17
Tue, Apr 14th	vs WSH	PJ Poulin (3-0)	#280	vs TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-9)	#37
Wed, Apr 15th	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-4)	#166	vs TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#88
Thu, Apr 16th	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51	vs TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#123
Fri, Apr 17th	vs TB	Nick Martinez (10-2)	#95	vs CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#82
Sat, Apr 18th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (9-5)	#20	vs CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#385
Sun, Apr 19th	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#35	vs CWS	Noah Schultz (3-7)	#209
Mon, Apr 20th				@ SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-5)	#85
Tue, Apr 21st	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#88	@ SEA	Luis Castillo (3-9)	#64
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#123	@ SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#10
Fri, Apr 24th	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)		@ TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (10-8)	#17
Sat, Apr 25th	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-4)	#6	@ TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-9)	#37
Sun, Apr 26th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#47	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#88
Tue, Apr 28th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#103	vs KC	Kris Bubic (3-2)	#114
Wed, Apr 29th	vs STL	Andre Pallante (11-6)	#115	vs KC	Michael Wacha (5-7)	#78
Thu, Apr 30th	vs STL	Hunter Dobbins (2-1)	#170	vs KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#94
Fri, May 1st	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#76
Sat, May 2nd	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287	vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-7)	#132
Sun, May 3rd	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs CLE	Parker Messick (8-6)	#45
Tue, May 5th	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4
Wed, May 6th	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#63	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8
Thu, May 7th	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#177	@ PHI	Andrew Painter (1-8)	#215
Fri, May 8th	@ SF	Robbie Ray (9-6)	#102	@ BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-9)	#49
Sat, May 9th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-9)	#61	@ BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#73
Sun, May 10th	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (3-9)	#74	@ BAL	Keegan Akin (0-1)
Tue, May 12th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#433	vs STL	Andre Pallante (11-6)	#115
Wed, May 13th	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#430	vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-8)	#125
Thu, May 14th	vs COL	Chase Dollander (3-3)		vs STL	Michael McGreevy (4-9)	#87
Fri, May 15th	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59	vs SF	Tyler Mahle (3-9)	#74
Sat, May 16th	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	vs SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)	#278
Sun, May 17th	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8	vs SF	Adrian Houser (2-7)	#188
Mon, May 18th				@ LAA	Walbert Urena (6-7)	#318
Tue, May 19th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-8)	#125	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-7)	#36
Wed, May 20th	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-9)	#87	@ LAA	Jack Kochanowicz (2-5)
Thu, May 21st	@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#55	@ LAA	Jose Soriano (9-6)	#53
Fri, May 22nd	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#30	@ SD	Walker Buehler (6-5)	#217
Sat, May 23rd	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#313	@ SD	Lucas Giolito (2-3)	#337
Sun, May 24th	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#9	@ SD	Michael King (6-7)	#58
Mon, May 25th	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#97	vs SEA	Luis Castillo (3-9)	#64
Tue, May 26th	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#222	vs SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-5)	#85
Wed, May 27th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	vs SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#10
Fri, May 29th	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#50	vs NYY	Carlos Rodon (4-2)	#105
Sat, May 30th	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#83	vs NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57
Sun, May 31st	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-8)	#104	vs NYY	Will Warren (7-5)	#68
Tue, Jun 2nd	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#227	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171
Wed, Jun 3rd	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#279	@ CHC	Colin Rea (8-7)	#176
Thu, Jun 4th	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#262	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25
Fri, Jun 5th	@ ATL	Martin Perez (6-6)	#224	@ HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#148
Sat, Jun 6th	@ ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)	#303	@ HOU	Tatsuya Imai (6-4)	#151
Sun, Jun 7th	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#227
Mon, Jun 8th				vs MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#47
Tue, Jun 9th	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (6-5)	#370	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#112
Wed, Jun 10th	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1	vs MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-6)	#141
Fri, Jun 12th	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (11-6)	#65	vs COL	Sean Sullivan (0-3)	#427
Sat, Jun 13th	vs MIA	Lake Bachar (1-2)	#193	vs COL	Kyle Freeland (2-10)	#375
Sun, Jun 14th	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#77	vs COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4)	#434
Mon, Jun 15th	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#165	vs PIT	Jared Jones (2-2)	#40
Tue, Jun 16th	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (2-6)	#101	vs PIT	Mitch Keller (6-7)	#121
Wed, Jun 17th	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#190	vs PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (10-4)	#33
Thu, Jun 18th				vs LAA	Ryan Johnson (2-5)	#169
Fri, Jun 19th	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (2-10)	#375	vs LAA	Jose Soriano (9-6)	#53
Sat, Jun 20th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4)	#434	vs LAA	Walbert Urena (6-7)	#318
Sun, Jun 21st	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#433	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (3-7)	#36
Tue, Jun 23rd	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#22	@ SF	Robbie Ray (9-6)	#102
Wed, Jun 24th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-7)	#13	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (3-9)	#74
Thu, Jun 25th	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-5)	#39	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-9)	#61
Fri, Jun 26th	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	@ LAA	Walbert Urena (6-7)	#318
Sat, Jun 27th	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-7)	#36
Sun, Jun 28th	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142	@ LAA	Sam Aldegheri (3-4)	#426
Mon, Jun 29th	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (6-5)	#370
Tue, Jun 30th	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#90
Wed, Jul 1st	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8	vs LAD	Jack Dreyer (4-1)	#154
Fri, Jul 3rd	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51	vs MIA	Tyler Phillips (2-5)	#285
Sat, Jul 4th	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-1)	#323	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (11-6)	#65
Sun, Jul 5th	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52	vs MIA	Eury Perez (5-8)	#42
Tue, Jul 7th	vs ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)	#306	@ DET	Tarik Skubal (7-5)	#2
Wed, Jul 8th	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#137	@ DET	Troy Melton (6-1)	#96
Thu, Jul 9th	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133	@ DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#34
Fri, Jul 10th				@ CWS	Sean Burke (7-5)	#71
Sat, Jul 11th	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#75	@ CWS	Bryan Hudson (3-4)	#168
Sun, Jul 12th	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#112	@ CWS	Noah Schultz (3-7)	#209
Fri, Jul 17th				vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52
Sat, Jul 18th	@ CLE	Logan Allen (0-0)	#155	vs WSH	Zack Littell (7-8)	#201
Sun, Jul 19th	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#76	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51
Mon, Jul 20th	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57	@ ARI	Mitch Bratt (0-1)	#195
Tue, Jul 21st				@ ARI	Kohl Drake (0-0)	#297
Wed, Jul 22nd	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#15	@ ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#126
Fri, Jul 24th	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#32	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-8)	#104
Sat, Jul 25th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25	@ MIN	Kendry Rojas (1-1)	#160
Sun, Jul 26th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	@ MIN	Connor Prielipp (3-5)	#98
Mon, Jul 27th	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#126	vs BOS	Payton Tolle (6-6)	#44
Tue, Jul 28th	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (5-1)	#70	vs BOS	Jake Bennett (6-4)	#89
Wed, Jul 29th	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127	vs BOS	Patrick Sandoval (0-0)	#138
Thu, Jul 30th	@ CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287	vs BOS	Sonny Gray (12-2)	#29
Fri, Jul 31st	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#26	vs DET	Casey Mize (4-6)	#46
Sat, Aug 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	vs DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#34
Sun, Aug 2nd	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs DET	Keider Montero (7-6)	#144
Tue, Aug 4th	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (5-1)	#41	@ CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142
Wed, Aug 5th	@ MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#75	@ CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287
Thu, Aug 6th	@ MIL			@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#26
Fri, Aug 7th	vs NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38	@ BOS	Payton Tolle (6-6)	#44
Sat, Aug 8th	vs NYM	Clay Holmes (4-4)	#116	@ BOS	Jake Bennett (6-4)	#89
Sun, Aug 9th	vs NYM			@ BOS
Mon, Aug 10th				vs TB
Tue, Aug 11th	@ MIA			vs TB
Wed, Aug 12th	@ MIA			vs TB
Fri, Aug 14th	vs BOS			vs TEX
Sat, Aug 15th	vs BOS			vs TEX
Sun, Aug 16th	vs BOS			vs TEX
Mon, Aug 17th	vs DET			@ KC
Tue, Aug 18th	vs DET			@ KC
Wed, Aug 19th	vs DET			@ KC
Thu, Aug 20th				@ KC
Fri, Aug 21st	@ LAD			@ HOU
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ LAD			@ HOU
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ LAD			@ HOU
Mon, Aug 24th	@ SD			vs MIN
Tue, Aug 25th	@ SD			vs MIN
Wed, Aug 26th	@ SD			vs MIN
Fri, Aug 28th	@ STL			vs BAL
Sat, Aug 29th	@ STL			vs BAL
Sun, Aug 30th	@ STL			vs BAL
Mon, Aug 31st				@ TEX
Tue, Sep 1st	vs SF			@ TEX
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs SF			@ TEX
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs SF			@ SEA
Fri, Sep 4th	vs LAA			@ SEA
Sat, Sep 5th	vs LAA			@ SEA
Sun, Sep 6th	vs LAA			@ SEA
Mon, Sep 7th				vs TOR
Tue, Sep 8th	@ CWS			vs TOR
Wed, Sep 9th	@ CWS			vs TOR
Fri, Sep 11th	@ CHC			vs SEA
Sat, Sep 12th	@ CHC			vs SEA
Sun, Sep 13th	@ CHC			vs SEA
Tue, Sep 15th	vs MIL			@ TB
Wed, Sep 16th	vs MIL			@ TB
Thu, Sep 17th	vs MIL			@ TB
Fri, Sep 18th	vs KC			@ CLE
Sat, Sep 19th	vs KC			@ CLE
Sun, Sep 20th	vs KC			@ CLE
Tue, Sep 22nd	vs STL			vs LAA
Wed, Sep 23rd	vs STL			vs LAA
Thu, Sep 24th	vs STL			vs HOU
Fri, Sep 25th	@ DET			vs HOU
Sat, Sep 26th	@ DET			vs HOU
Sun, Sep 27th	@ DET			vs HOU
Thu, Mar 26th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38
Mon, Apr 6th	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#357
Thu, Apr 23rd	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#7
Mon, Apr 27th	vs STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#55
Thu, May 28th	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-7)	#176
Thu, Jun 11th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#90
Thu, Jul 2nd	@ PHI	Alan Rangel (0-3)	#301
Mon, Aug 3rd	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-6)	#141
Thu, Aug 13th	@ MIA
Thu, Sep 10th	@ CWS

Who Should I Trade?

Carlos Cortes for Esmerlyn Valdez (2026)

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