Who Should I Trade?

Christian Walker for Esmerlyn Valdez (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick
	Christian Walker 1B - HOU	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
Expert Recommendation	83% Recommended by 5 of 6 experts	17% Recommended by 1 of 6 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 89	# 166
VBR	# 106	# 218

Projections

Runs	22	17
Home Runs	8	6
RBI	25	19
Stolen Bases	1	0
Batting Average	.236	.234

Misc

Injury Alert	-	-

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 100	# 115

Dalton Del Don The Deep Shot	# 72	‐

Mike Maher BettingPros	# 65	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 82	# 161

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 94	# 128

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 101	# 97

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Christian Walker 1B - HOU	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
2026 Stats


At Bats	425	161

Runs	59	28

Hits	101	39

Singles	54	15

Doubles	24	9

Triples	1	1

Home Runs	22	14

RBI	67	38

Stolen Bases	0	0

Caught Stealing	0	1

Walks	41	33

Strikeouts	112	73

Batting Average	.238	.242

On Base Pct	.317	.371

Slugging Pct	.454	.571

On-base Plus Slugging	.771	.942

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Christian Walker 1B - HOU	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
2026 Projections


At Bats	158	125

Runs	22	17

Hits	37	29

Singles	21	17

Doubles	7	6

Triples	0	0

Home Runs	8	6

RBI	25	19

Stolen Bases	1	0

Caught Stealing	0	0

Walks	15	15

Strikeouts	44	42

Batting Average	.236	.234

On Base Pct	.315	.325

Slugging Pct	.443	.430

On-base Plus Slugging	.758	.755

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Christian Walker 1B - HOU	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
News
	Christian Walker went 1-for-5 in a win over the Rangers with a solo home run. Chris Schommer Sat, Aug 1st	Esmerlyn Valdez is expected to be in the lineup in Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th
	Christian Walker went 2-for-4 in a win over the Angels with a solo home run. Chris Schommer Wed, Jul 29th	The Pirates didn’t provide an update on Esmerlyn Valdez following Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th
	Christian Walker is not in the Astros lineup on Sunday against the White Sox. Ari Koslow Sun, Jul 26th	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
	Christian Walker went 1-for-5 in Friday's 9-5 win over the White Sox with a double, one run scored, and three RBI. Chris Schommer Sat, Jul 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
	Christian Walker is back in the Astros lineup on Tuesday against the Marlins. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 21st	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
Notes
There are no recent notes for these players

Who Should I Trade? Player Schedules
Date	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR
	Christian Walker 1B - HOU			Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT
Thu, Mar 26th	vs LAA	Jose Soriano (9-6)	#42	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#46
Fri, Mar 27th	vs LAA	Yusei Kikuchi (0-3)	#107
Sat, Mar 28th	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (3-8)	#30	@ NYM	David Peterson (6-7)	#126
Sun, Mar 29th	vs LAA	Jack Kochanowicz (2-5)		@ NYM	Nolan McLean (8-7)	#31
Mon, Mar 30th	vs BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#24	@ CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22
Tue, Mar 31st	vs BOS	Brayan Bello (4-6)	#123	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#380
Wed, Apr 1st	vs BOS	Garrett Crochet (3-3)	#130	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-7)	#95
Fri, Apr 3rd	@ ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-11)	#327	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-11)	#43
Sat, Apr 4th	@ ATH	Luis Morales (0-2)	#340	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-11)	#68
Sun, Apr 5th	@ ATH	Jacob Lopez (5-4)	#180	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#178
Mon, Apr 6th	@ COL	Ryan Feltner (4-6)	#431	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#341
Tue, Apr 7th	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (3-10)	#346	vs SD	Nick Pivetta (1-2)	#85
Wed, Apr 8th	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-10)	#432	vs SD	Michael King (7-8)	#52
Fri, Apr 10th	@ SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-7)	#72	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (8-9)	#23
Sat, Apr 11th	@ SEA	Luis Castillo (3-9)	#76	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#91
Sun, Apr 12th	@ SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-7)	#12	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#143
Mon, Apr 13th	@ SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#21	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (9-5)	#66
Tue, Apr 14th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-10)	#432	vs WSH	PJ Poulin (3-0)	#382
Wed, Apr 15th	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#415	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-5)	#159
Thu, Apr 16th	vs COL	Juan Mejia		vs WSH	Foster Griffin (12-4)	#41
Fri, Apr 17th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (8-4)	#108	vs TB	Nick Martinez (11-3)	#83
Sat, Apr 18th	vs STL	Andre Pallante (12-6)	#99	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (11-5)	#15
Sun, Apr 19th	vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-9)	#75	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#63
Mon, Apr 20th	@ CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-7)	#175
Tue, Apr 21st	@ CLE	Parker Messick (9-6)	#38	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-9)	#98
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-11)	#49	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#117
Fri, Apr 24th	vs NYY	Will Warren (8-6)	#64	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)
Sat, Apr 25th	vs NYY	Ryan Weathers (5-7)	#60	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-5)	#5
Sun, Apr 26th	vs NYY	Luis Gil (1-2)	#286	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (9-2)	#50
Tue, Apr 28th	@ BAL	Shane Baz (4-11)	#68	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (8-4)	#108
Thu, Apr 30th	@ BAL	Brandon Young (8-3)	#134	vs STL	Hunter Dobbins (2-2)	#162
Fri, May 1st	@ BOS	Jake Bennett (7-5)	#89	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-11)	#139
Sat, May 2nd	@ BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#158	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (4-7)	#218
Sun, May 3rd	@ BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#24	vs CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22
Mon, May 4th	vs LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-7)	#11
Tue, May 5th	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (11-4)	#125
Wed, May 6th	vs LAD	Tyler Glasnow (3-0)	#54	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#74
Fri, May 8th	@ CIN	Nick Lodolo (3-2)	#100	@ SF	Robbie Ray (10-7)	#80
Sat, May 9th	@ CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-11)	#65
Sun, May 10th	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-7)	#95	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (3-9)	#92
Mon, May 11th	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#21
Tue, May 12th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (8-8)	#13	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-10)	#432
Wed, May 13th	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-6)	#33	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#415
Thu, May 14th	vs SEA	Luis Castillo (3-9)	#76	vs COL	Chase Dollander (3-3)
Fri, May 15th	vs TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#117	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59
Sat, May 16th	vs TEX	Jacob deGrom (8-7)	#9	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (15-4)	#4
Sun, May 17th	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (10-9)	#19	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-3)	#6
Mon, May 18th	@ MIN	Kendry Rojas (1-1)	#214
Tue, May 19th	@ MIN	Zebby Matthews (5-8)	#110	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-9)	#75
Wed, May 20th	@ MIN	Joe Ryan (6-8)	#58	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-9)	#102
Fri, May 22nd	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#143	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (6-10)	#25
Sat, May 23rd	@ CHC	Colin Rea (8-8)	#226	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)
Sun, May 24th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (8-9)	#23	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#8
Mon, May 25th	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-9)	#98	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#160
Tue, May 26th	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#117	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#337
Wed, May 27th	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (8-7)	#9	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#143
Thu, May 28th	@ TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (10-9)	#19	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-8)	#226
Fri, May 29th	vs MIL	Coleman Crow (0-1)	#302	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#48
Sat, May 30th	vs MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-7)	#209	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#104
Sun, May 31st	vs MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-5)	#5	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (5-8)	#110
Tue, Jun 2nd	vs PIT	Bubba Chandler (5-8)	#129	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#229
Wed, Jun 3rd	vs PIT	Paul Skenes (9-10)	#3	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#275
Thu, Jun 4th	vs PIT	Jared Jones (2-4)	#51	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#250
Fri, Jun 5th	vs ATH	Jack Perkins (2-8)	#119	@ ATL	Martin Perez (7-6)	#210
Sat, Jun 6th	vs ATH	Kade Morris (0-1)	#336	@ ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)
Sun, Jun 7th	vs ATH	Gage Jump (5-7)	#114	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (8-6)	#167
Mon, Jun 8th	@ LAA	Grayson Rodriguez (3-5)	#106
Tue, Jun 9th	@ LAA	Walbert Urena (7-8)	#259	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (6-6)	#366
Wed, Jun 10th	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-8)	#30	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1
Fri, Jun 12th	@ KC	Luinder Avila (5-4)		vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (13-6)	#56
Sat, Jun 13th	@ KC	Noah Cameron (6-8)	#69	vs MIA	Lake Bachar (1-2)	#217
Sun, Jun 14th	@ KC	Stephen Kolek (4-3)		vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#138
Mon, Jun 15th	vs DET	Drew Anderson (4-4)	#82	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#155
Tue, Jun 16th	vs DET	Framber Valdez (7-7)	#37	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (2-8)	#119
Wed, Jun 17th	vs DET	Casey Mize (4-7)	#34	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#185
Fri, Jun 19th	vs CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-11)	#49	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (3-10)	#346
Sat, Jun 20th	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-7)	#73	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (11-5)	#434
Sun, Jun 21st	vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-7)	#175	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-10)	#432
Mon, Jun 22nd	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#8
Tue, Jun 23rd	@ TOR	Shane Bieber (3-2)	#93	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#21
Wed, Jun 24th	@ TOR	Trey Yesavage (5-5)	#149	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (8-8)	#13
Thu, Jun 25th	@ DET	Troy Melton (7-1)	#55	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-6)	#33
Fri, Jun 26th	@ DET	Keider Montero (8-7)	#101	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-7)	#95
Sat, Jun 27th	@ DET	Framber Valdez (7-7)	#37	vs CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22
Sun, Jun 28th	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#84	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-11)	#139
Mon, Jun 29th	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (5-8)	#110	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59
Tue, Jun 30th	vs MIN	Joe Ryan (6-8)	#58	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (15-4)	#4
Wed, Jul 1st	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#48	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-3)	#6
Fri, Jul 3rd	vs TB	Nick Martinez (11-3)	#83	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (12-4)	#41
Sat, Jul 4th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (11-5)	#15	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-2)	#309
Sun, Jul 5th	vs TB	Mason Englert (0-3)	#295	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (9-5)	#66
Mon, Jul 6th	@ WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-9)	#323
Tue, Jul 7th	@ WSH	Andrew Alvarez (2-3)	#133	vs ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)
Wed, Jul 8th	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (12-4)	#41	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (7-4)	#164
Fri, Jul 10th	@ TEX	Cal Quantrill (4-4)	#290
Sat, Jul 11th	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-9)	#98	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (6-4)	#96
Sun, Jul 12th	@ TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-9)	#36	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#136
Fri, Jul 17th	vs BAL	Dean Kremer (1-4)	#97
Sat, Jul 18th	vs BAL	Trevor Rogers (7-7)	#57	@ CLE	Logan Allen (0-0)	#197
Sun, Jul 19th	vs BAL	Brandon Young (8-3)	#134	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-7)	#73
Mon, Jul 20th	vs MIA	Janson Junk (5-7)	#113	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (5-7)	#60
Tue, Jul 21st	vs MIA	Tyler Phillips (3-5)	#280
Wed, Jul 22nd	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (13-6)	#56	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#14
Fri, Jul 24th	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-6)	#78	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (8-1)	#35
Sat, Jul 25th	@ CWS	Sean Burke (7-6)	#61	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (8-9)	#23
Sun, Jul 26th	@ CWS	Erick Fedde (6-7)	#407	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#143
Mon, Jul 27th	@ LAA	Walbert Urena (7-8)	#259	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-9)	#121
Tue, Jul 28th	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-8)	#30	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (6-1)	#79
Wed, Jul 29th	@ LAA	Grayson Rodriguez (3-5)	#106	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (11-4)	#125
Fri, Jul 31st	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (10-9)	#19	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)
Sat, Aug 1st	vs TEX	Jacob deGrom (8-7)	#9	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-7)	#95
Sun, Aug 2nd	vs TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-9)	#98	@ CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22
Mon, Aug 3rd	vs TOR	Shane Bieber (3-2)	#93	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-7)	#209
Tue, Aug 4th	vs TOR	Trey Yesavage (5-5)	#149	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (6-1)	#32
Wed, Aug 5th	vs TOR	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#143	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (9-2)	#50
Fri, Aug 7th	@ SD	Robbie Ray (10-7)	#80	vs NYM	Zac Thornton (3-2)	#140
Sat, Aug 8th	@ SD	Michael King (7-8)	#52	vs NYM	Robert Stock (0-2)	#198
Sun, Aug 9th	@ SD	Randy Vasquez (8-6)	#360	vs NYM	Sean Manaea (4-5)	#67
Mon, Aug 10th	@ SF	Blade Tidwell (0-0)	#145
Tue, Aug 11th	@ SF	Carson Whisenhunt (2-3)	#170	@ MIA	Eury Perez (5-9)	#44
Wed, Aug 12th	@ SF	Adrian Houser (3-7)	#191	@ MIA	Janson Junk (5-7)	#113
Fri, Aug 14th	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#21	vs BOS	Jake Bennett (7-5)	#89
Sat, Aug 15th	vs SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-7)	#72	vs BOS	Sonny Gray (14-2)	#28
Sun, Aug 16th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (8-8)	#13	vs BOS	Patrick Sandoval (1-0)	#124
Tue, Aug 18th	vs LAA	George Klassen (0-1)	#236	vs DET	Keider Montero (8-7)	#101
Wed, Aug 19th	vs LAA	Walbert Urena (7-8)	#259	vs DET	Jackson Jobe (1-0)	#157
Thu, Aug 20th	vs LAA
Fri, Aug 21st	vs ATH			@ LAD
Sat, Aug 22nd	vs ATH			@ LAD
Sun, Aug 23rd	vs ATH			@ LAD
Tue, Aug 25th	@ NYY			@ SD
Wed, Aug 26th	@ NYY			@ SD
Thu, Aug 27th	@ NYY
Fri, Aug 28th	@ NYM			@ STL
Sat, Aug 29th	@ NYM			@ STL
Sun, Aug 30th	@ NYM			@ STL
Mon, Aug 31st	vs CWS
Tue, Sep 1st	vs CWS			vs SF
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs CWS			vs SF
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs CWS			vs SF
Fri, Sep 4th	vs ARI			vs LAA
Sat, Sep 5th	vs ARI			vs LAA
Sun, Sep 6th	vs ARI			vs LAA
Tue, Sep 8th	@ PHI			@ CWS
Wed, Sep 9th	@ PHI			@ CWS
Thu, Sep 10th	@ PHI			@ CWS
Fri, Sep 11th	@ TB			@ CHC
Sat, Sep 12th	@ TB			@ CHC
Sun, Sep 13th	@ TB			@ CHC
Tue, Sep 15th	vs KC			vs MIL
Wed, Sep 16th	vs KC			vs MIL
Thu, Sep 17th	vs KC			vs MIL
Fri, Sep 18th	vs ATL			vs KC
Sat, Sep 19th	vs ATL			vs KC
Sun, Sep 20th	vs ATL			vs KC
Tue, Sep 22nd	@ SEA			vs STL
Wed, Sep 23rd	@ SEA			vs STL
Thu, Sep 24th	@ ATH			vs STL
Fri, Sep 25th	@ ATH			@ DET
Sat, Sep 26th	@ ATH			@ DET
Sun, Sep 27th	@ ATH			@ DET
Thu, Apr 23rd				@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (8-7)	#9
Mon, Apr 27th				vs STL	Dustin May (6-7)	#40
Wed, Apr 29th				vs STL	Andre Pallante (12-6)	#99
Thu, May 7th				@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#246
Thu, May 21st				@ STL	Dustin May (6-7)	#40
Thu, Jun 11th				vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-4)	#111
Thu, Jul 2nd				@ PHI	Alan Rangel (0-3)	#274
Thu, Jul 9th				vs ATL	Bryce Elder (8-6)	#167
Thu, Jul 30th				@ CIN	Rhett Lowder (4-7)	#218
Thu, Aug 6th				@ MIL	Dustin May (6-7)	#40
Thu, Aug 13th				@ MIA	Tyler Phillips (3-5)	#280
Mon, Aug 17th				vs DET	Framber Valdez (7-7)	#37
Mon, Aug 24th				@ SD

Who Should I Trade?

Christian Walker for Esmerlyn Valdez (2026)

ExpertRecommendation

Expert
Recommendation