Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Justin Foscue (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Justin Foscue 1B,2B,DH - TEX
Expert Recommendation	100% Recommended by 4 of 4 experts	0% Recommended by 0 of 4 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 164	# 304
VBR	# 218	# 1155

Projections

Runs	17	6
Home Runs	6	2
RBI	19	7
Stolen Bases	0	0
Batting Average	.234	.230

Misc

Injury Alert	-	-

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 115	‐

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 97	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 161	# 390

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 128	# 205

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Justin Foscue 1B,2B,DH - TEX
2026 Stats


At Bats	157	133

Runs	28	16

Hits	39	34

Singles	15	19

Doubles	9	7

Triples	1	1

Home Runs	14	7

RBI	38	21

Stolen Bases	0	0

Caught Stealing	1	0

Walks	33	11

Strikeouts	69	39

Batting Average	.248	.256

On Base Pct	.378	.320

Slugging Pct	.586	.481

On-base Plus Slugging	.964	.801

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Justin Foscue 1B,2B,DH - TEX
2026 Projections


At Bats	125	49

Runs	17	6

Hits	29	11

Singles	17	7

Doubles	6	3

Triples	0	0

Home Runs	6	2

RBI	19	7

Stolen Bases	0	0

Caught Stealing	0	0

Walks	15	5

Strikeouts	42	11

Batting Average	.234	.230

On Base Pct	.325	.306

Slugging Pct	.430	.396

On-base Plus Slugging	.755	.702

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Justin Foscue 1B,2B,DH - TEX
News
	Esmerlyn Valdez is expected to be in the lineup in Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Justin Foscue went 2-for-2 in a win over the Angels with a home run, two runs scored, and two RBI. Chris Schommer Wed, Jul 8th
	The Pirates didn’t provide an update on Esmerlyn Valdez following Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Justin Foscue went 2-for-4 in a win over the Blue Jays with a home run, one run scored, and three RBI. Chris Schommer Sat, Jun 27th
	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	Justin Foscue went 1-for-1 with a home run and a walk in two plate appearances off the bench against the Twins on Thursday. The homer continued a productive stretch for the infielder, who is batting .274/.333/.493 through 81 plate appearances this season. Bruno Mulé Fri, Jun 19th
	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	With Corey Seager back from the injured list, Ezequiel Duran is expected to take over as the primary starter at second base, further limiting Foscue's opportunities. He had already lost his semi-regular role at the position when Texas added Nicky Lopez, and Sunday marked just his second start in the last eight games — both coming against left-handed pitching. Bruno Mulé Mon, Jun 8th
	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	Justin Foscue went 3-for-3 in a loss to the Rockies with a home run, two doubles, one run scored, three RBI, and one walk. Chris Schommer Tue, May 19th
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			Justin Foscue 1B,2B,DH - TEX
Thu, Mar 26th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#46	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (15-4)	#4
Sat, Mar 28th	@ NYM	David Peterson (6-7)	#126	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59
Sun, Mar 29th	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (8-7)	#31	@ PHI	Jesus Luzardo (10-5)	#10
Mon, Mar 30th	@ CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22	@ BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#178
Tue, Mar 31st	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#385	@ BAL	Zach Eflin (0-0)
Wed, Apr 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-7)	#96	@ BAL	Trevor Rogers (7-7)	#57
Fri, Apr 3rd	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-11)	#44	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#141
Sat, Apr 4th	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-11)	#68	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (4-7)	#221
Sun, Apr 5th	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#178	vs CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22
Mon, Apr 6th	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#344	vs SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-7)	#12
Tue, Apr 7th	vs SD	Nick Pivetta (1-2)	#85	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#21
Wed, Apr 8th	vs SD	Michael King (7-8)	#52	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (8-8)	#13
Fri, Apr 10th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (8-9)	#23	@ LAD	Tyler Glasnow (3-0)	#54
Sat, Apr 11th	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#91	@ LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-8)	#127
Sun, Apr 12th	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#143	@ LAD	Roki Sasaki (5-5)	#94
Mon, Apr 13th	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (9-5)	#66	@ ATH	Luis Severino (2-6)	#250
Tue, Apr 14th	vs WSH	PJ Poulin (3-0)	#381	@ ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-11)	#330
Wed, Apr 15th	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-5)	#161	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#156
Thu, Apr 16th	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (12-4)	#41	@ ATH	Jacob Lopez (5-4)	#185
Fri, Apr 17th	vs TB	Nick Martinez (11-3)	#84	@ SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-7)	#12
Sat, Apr 18th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (11-5)	#15	@ SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#21
Sun, Apr 19th	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#63	@ SEA	Bryan Woo (8-8)	#13
Tue, Apr 21st	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#98	vs PIT	Carmen Mlodzinski (6-4)	#109
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#118	vs PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (11-5)	#29
Thu, Apr 23rd	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (8-7)	#9	vs PIT	Bubba Chandler (5-8)	#130
Fri, Apr 24th	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)		vs ATH	Luis Severino (2-6)	#250
Sat, Apr 25th	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-5)	#5	vs ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-11)	#330
Sun, Apr 26th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (9-2)	#49	vs ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#156
Mon, Apr 27th	vs STL	Dustin May (6-7)	#40	vs NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#14
Tue, Apr 28th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (8-4)	#108	vs NYY	Cam Schlittler (10-6)	#17
Wed, Apr 29th	vs STL	Andre Pallante (12-6)	#99	vs NYY	Elmer Rodriguez (0-2)	#237
Thu, Apr 30th	vs STL	Hunter Dobbins (2-2)	#163
Fri, May 1st	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#141	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#83
Sat, May 2nd	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (4-7)	#221	@ DET	Keider Montero (8-7)	#102
Sun, May 3rd	vs CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22	@ DET	Tyler Holton (1-4)	#119
Tue, May 5th	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-4)	#125	@ NYY	Elmer Rodriguez (0-2)	#237
Wed, May 6th	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#74	@ NYY	Will Warren (8-6)	#64
Thu, May 7th	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#246	@ NYY	Paul Blackburn (3-1)	#205
Fri, May 8th	@ SF	Robbie Ray (10-7)	#81	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#159
Sat, May 9th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-11)	#65	vs CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#91
Sun, May 10th	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (3-9)	#92	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#143
Tue, May 12th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-10)	#433	vs ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#246
Wed, May 13th	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#415	vs ARI	Ryne Nelson (3-5)	#190
Thu, May 14th	vs COL	Chase Dollander (3-3)
Fri, May 15th	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#275
Sat, May 16th	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (15-4)	#4	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#251
Sun, May 17th	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-3)	#6	@ HOU	Peter Lambert (8-6)	#142
Tue, May 19th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-9)	#75	@ COL	Sammy Peralta	#329
Wed, May 20th	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-9)	#103	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (3-10)	#355
Thu, May 21st	@ STL	Dustin May (6-7)	#40
Fri, May 22nd	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (6-10)	#25	@ LAA	Grayson Rodriguez (3-4)	#106
Sat, May 23rd	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)		@ LAA	Walbert Urena (7-8)	#262
Sun, May 24th	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#8	@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-8)	#30
Mon, May 25th	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#159	vs HOU	Tatsuya Imai (6-4)	#121
Tue, May 26th	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#336	vs HOU	Jason Alexander (1-1)	#423
Wed, May 27th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#143	vs HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#231
Thu, May 28th	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-8)	#226	vs HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#275
Fri, May 29th	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#48	vs KC	Stephen Kolek (4-3)
Sat, May 30th	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#104	vs KC	Seth Lugo (5-7)	#152
Sun, May 31st	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (5-8)	#110	vs KC	Michael Wacha (5-8)	#71
Tue, Jun 2nd	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#231	@ STL	Dustin May (6-7)	#40
Wed, Jun 3rd	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#275	@ STL	Andre Pallante (12-6)	#99
Thu, Jun 4th	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#251
Fri, Jun 5th	@ ATL	Martin Perez (7-6)	#212	vs CLE	Parker Messick (9-6)	#38
Sat, Jun 6th	@ ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)		vs CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-11)	#50
Sun, Jun 7th	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (8-6)	#170	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-7)	#73
Tue, Jun 9th	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (6-6)	#380	@ KC	Stephen Kolek (4-3)
Wed, Jun 10th	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1	@ KC	Seth Lugo (5-7)	#152
Thu, Jun 11th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-3)	#111	@ KC	Michael Wacha (5-8)	#71
Fri, Jun 12th	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (13-6)	#58	@ BOS	Sonny Gray (14-2)	#28
Sat, Jun 13th	vs MIA	Lake Bachar (1-2)	#217	@ BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#24
Sun, Jun 14th	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#138	@ BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#157
Mon, Jun 15th	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#156	vs MIN	Mike Paredes (0-3)	#386
Tue, Jun 16th	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (2-8)	#120	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (5-8)	#110
Wed, Jun 17th	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#183
Fri, Jun 19th	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (3-10)	#355	vs SD	Randy Vasquez (7-6)	#366
Sat, Jun 20th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (11-5)	#435	vs SD	Walker Buehler (6-5)	#235
Sun, Jun 21st	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-10)	#433	vs SD	Wandy Peralta (2-2)	#229
Tue, Jun 23rd	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#21	@ MIA	Sandy Alcantara (13-6)	#58
Wed, Jun 24th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (8-8)	#13	@ MIA	Eury Perez (5-9)	#45
Thu, Jun 25th	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-6)	#33	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (6-10)	#25
Fri, Jun 26th	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-7)	#96	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)
Sat, Jun 27th	vs CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#8
Sun, Jun 28th	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#141	@ TOR	Shane Bieber (3-2)	#93
Mon, Jun 29th	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59	@ CLE	Parker Messick (9-6)	#38
Tue, Jun 30th	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (15-4)	#4	@ CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-11)	#50
Wed, Jul 1st	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-3)	#6	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-7)	#73
Thu, Jul 2nd	@ PHI	Alan Rangel (0-3)	#274	vs DET	Framber Valdez (7-7)	#37
Fri, Jul 3rd	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (12-4)	#41
Sat, Jul 4th	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-2)	#309	vs DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#83
Sun, Jul 5th	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (9-5)	#66	vs DET	Casey Mize (4-7)	#34
Tue, Jul 7th	vs ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)		vs LAA	Jose Soriano (9-6)	#42
Wed, Jul 8th	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (7-4)	#166	vs LAA	Walbert Urena (7-8)	#262
Thu, Jul 9th	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (8-6)	#170	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (3-8)	#30
Sat, Jul 11th	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (6-4)	#95	vs HOU	Peter Lambert (8-6)	#142
Sun, Jul 12th	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#134	vs HOU	Cristian Javier (1-2)	#172
Sat, Jul 18th	@ CLE	Logan Allen (0-0)	#197	@ ATL	Owen Murphy (0-1)	#230
Sun, Jul 19th	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-7)	#73	@ ATL	Grant Holmes (7-4)	#166
Mon, Jul 20th	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (5-7)	#60	vs CWS	Erick Fedde (6-7)	#410
Wed, Jul 22nd	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#14	vs CWS	Anthony Kay (9-5)	#177
Fri, Jul 24th	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (7-1)	#35	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-6)	#33
Sat, Jul 25th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (8-9)	#23	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (8-8)	#13
Sun, Jul 26th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#143	vs SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-7)	#12
Mon, Jul 27th	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-9)	#122	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#21
Tue, Jul 28th	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (6-1)	#79	@ TB	Griffin Jax (6-9)	#47
Wed, Jul 29th	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-4)	#125	@ TB	Casey Legumina (2-2)	#281
Thu, Jul 30th	@ CIN	Rhett Lowder (4-7)	#221	@ TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#63
Fri, Jul 31st	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#324	@ HOU	Hunter Brown (3-1)	#20
Sat, Aug 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-7)	#96	@ HOU	Ronel Blanco (0-1)	#131
Sun, Aug 2nd	@ CIN	Chase Burns (13-2)	#22	@ HOU	Peter Lambert (8-6)	#142
Mon, Aug 3rd	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-7)	#209	vs SF	Logan Webb (7-7)	#16
Tue, Aug 4th	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (6-1)	#32	vs SF	Blade Tidwell (0-0)	#145
Wed, Aug 5th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (9-2)	#49	vs SF	Carson Whisenhunt (2-3)	#171
Thu, Aug 6th	@ MIL	Dustin May (6-7)	#40
Fri, Aug 7th	vs NYM	Zac Thornton (3-2)	#140	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-11)	#68
Sat, Aug 8th	vs NYM	Robert Stock (0-2)	#200	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-11)	#44
Sun, Aug 9th	vs NYM	Sean Manaea (3-5)	#67	vs BAL	Cade Povich (2-1)	#196
Tue, Aug 11th	@ MIA	Eury Perez (5-9)	#45	@ LAA	Ryan Johnson (2-6)	#271
Wed, Aug 12th	@ MIA	Janson Junk (5-7)	#113	@ LAA	George Klassen (0-1)	#236
Thu, Aug 13th	@ MIA	Tyler Phillips (3-5)	#289	@ LAA	Walbert Urena (7-8)	#262
Fri, Aug 14th	vs BOS	Patrick Sandoval (1-0)	#124	@ ATH	Gage Jump (5-7)	#115
Sat, Aug 15th	vs BOS	Sonny Gray (14-2)	#28	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#156
Sun, Aug 16th	vs BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#24	@ ATH	Jacob Lopez (5-4)	#185
Mon, Aug 17th	vs DET	Framber Valdez (7-7)	#37
Tue, Aug 18th	vs DET			vs WSH
Wed, Aug 19th	vs DET			vs WSH
Fri, Aug 21st	@ LAD			vs LAA
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ LAD			vs LAA
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ LAD			vs LAA
Mon, Aug 24th	@ SD			@ CWS
Tue, Aug 25th	@ SD			@ CWS
Wed, Aug 26th	@ SD			@ CWS
Fri, Aug 28th	@ STL			@ MIL
Sat, Aug 29th	@ STL			@ MIL
Sun, Aug 30th	@ STL			@ MIL
Tue, Sep 1st	vs SF			vs ATH
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs SF			vs ATH
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs SF			vs TB
Fri, Sep 4th	vs LAA			vs TB
Sat, Sep 5th	vs LAA			vs TB
Sun, Sep 6th	vs LAA			vs TB
Tue, Sep 8th	@ CWS			@ SEA
Wed, Sep 9th	@ CWS			@ SEA
Thu, Sep 10th	@ CWS			@ SEA
Fri, Sep 11th	@ CHC			@ ARI
Sat, Sep 12th	@ CHC			@ ARI
Sun, Sep 13th	@ CHC			@ ARI
Tue, Sep 15th	vs MIL			vs BOS
Wed, Sep 16th	vs MIL			vs BOS
Thu, Sep 17th	vs MIL			vs BOS
Fri, Sep 18th	vs KC			vs TOR
Sat, Sep 19th	vs KC			vs TOR
Sun, Sep 20th	vs KC			vs TOR
Tue, Sep 22nd	vs STL			vs NYM
Wed, Sep 23rd	vs STL			vs NYM
Thu, Sep 24th	vs STL			vs NYM
Fri, Sep 25th	@ DET			@ MIN
Sat, Sep 26th	@ DET			@ MIN
Sun, Sep 27th	@ DET			@ MIN
Mon, May 11th				vs ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#74
Mon, May 18th				@ COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#415
Mon, Jun 1st				@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-9)	#103
Thu, Jun 18th				vs MIN	Joe Ryan (6-8)	#56
Mon, Jun 22nd				@ MIA	Tyler Phillips (3-5)	#289
Fri, Jul 10th				vs HOU	Hunter Brown (3-1)	#20
Fri, Jul 17th				@ ATL	Chris Sale (12-7)	#7
Tue, Jul 21st				vs CWS	Noah Schultz (3-9)	#286
Mon, Aug 10th				@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-8)	#30
Thu, Aug 20th				vs WSH
Mon, Aug 31st				vs ATH

Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Justin Foscue (2026)

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