Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Max Kepler (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

Who Should I Trade? Player Summaries
	Experts' Pick
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Max Kepler LF,RF - FA
Expert Recommendation	100% Recommended by 4 of 4 experts	0% Recommended by 0 of 4 experts
Rankings

Rest of Season	# 168	‐
VBR	‐	‐

Projections

Runs	‐	‐
Home Runs	‐	‐
RBI	‐	‐
Stolen Bases	‐	‐
Batting Average	‐	‐

Misc

Injury Alert	IL10	FA

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 115	‐

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 128	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 146	‐

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 128	# 295

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Max Kepler LF,RF - FA
2026 Stats


At Bats	241	132

Runs	40	11

Hits	56	27

Singles	24	18

Doubles	14	7

Triples	1	0

Home Runs	17	2

RBI	47	15

Stolen Bases	0	0

Caught Stealing	1	0

Walks	42	11

Strikeouts	108	32

Batting Average	.232	.205

On Base Pct	.345	.262

Slugging Pct	.510	.303

On-base Plus Slugging	.855	.565

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Max Kepler LF,RF - FA
2026 Projections


At Bats	‐	‐

Runs	‐	‐

Hits	‐	‐

Singles	‐	‐

Doubles	‐	‐

Triples	‐	‐

Home Runs	‐	‐

RBI	‐	‐

Stolen Bases	‐	‐

Caught Stealing	‐	‐

Walks	‐	‐

Strikeouts	‐	‐

Batting Average	‐	‐

On Base Pct	‐	‐

Slugging Pct	‐	‐

On-base Plus Slugging	‐	‐

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Max Kepler LF,RF - FA
News
	The Pirates placed Esmerlyn Valdez on the injured list with a left hamstring strain. Ari Koslow Tue, Sep 22nd	The Diamondbacks released OF Max Kepler. Ari Koslow Tue, Sep 8th
	Esmerlyn Valdez is not in the Pirates lineup on Saturday against the Cubs. Ari Koslow Sat, Sep 12th	The Diamondbacks designated Max Kepler for assignment. Ari Koslow Sun, Sep 6th
	Esmerlyn Valdez (hamstring) left Friday's game against the Cubs early. Nate Miller - FantasyPros Fri, Sep 11th	Max Kepler went 3-for-5 with two RBI in the Diamondbacks 3-2 loss against the Pirates on Monday. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th
	Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-2 with a home run in the Pirates 4-2 win over the White Sox on Wednesday. Ari Koslow Thu, Sep 10th	Max Kepler went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in the Diamondbacks 6-5 win over the Athletics on Tuesday. Ari Koslow Wed, Jul 22nd
	Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-4 with a home run in the Pirates 5-4 win over the Cardinals on Sunday. Ari Koslow Sun, Aug 30th	Max Kepler went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in the Diamondbacks 8-0 win over the Padres on Monday. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 7th
Notes
There are no recent notes for these players

Who Should I Trade? Player Schedules
Date	Opp	Opp Pitcher	VBR	Opp
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT			Max Kepler LF,RF - FA
Thu, Mar 26th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (10-11)	#51
Sat, Mar 28th	@ NYM	David Peterson (9-8)	#63
Sun, Mar 29th	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (12-10)	#28
Mon, Mar 30th	@ CIN	Chase Burns (15-3)
Tue, Mar 31st	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (5-4)	#245
Wed, Apr 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-11)	#140
Fri, Apr 3rd	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-14)
Sat, Apr 4th	vs BAL	Shane Baz (6-15)	#73
Sun, Apr 5th	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (9-5)	#158
Mon, Apr 6th	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)
Tue, Apr 7th	vs SD	Nick Pivetta (3-2)	#17
Wed, Apr 8th	vs SD	Michael King (12-10)	#60
Fri, Apr 10th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (11-10)	#49
Sat, Apr 11th	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-5)	#124
Sun, Apr 12th	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)
Mon, Apr 13th	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (13-5)	#34
Tue, Apr 14th	vs WSH	PJ Poulin (3-0)
Wed, Apr 15th	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-9)	#190
Thu, Apr 16th	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (15-6)	#52
Fri, Apr 17th	vs TB	Nick Martinez (15-5)	#193
Sat, Apr 18th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (16-5)	#26
Sun, Apr 19th	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (10-7)
Tue, Apr 21st	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (6-11)	#82
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)
Thu, Apr 23rd	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (11-11)	#14
Fri, Apr 24th	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)
Sat, Apr 25th	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (15-5)	#7
Sun, Apr 26th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (10-5)	#62
Mon, Apr 27th	vs STL	Dustin May (7-9)	#35
Tue, Apr 28th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (10-5)	#80
Wed, Apr 29th	vs STL	Andre Pallante (12-8)	#83
Thu, Apr 30th	vs STL	Hunter Dobbins (3-3)
Fri, May 1st	vs CIN	Brady Singer (6-15)	#197
Sat, May 2nd	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (6-12)	#181
Sun, May 3rd	vs CIN	Chase Burns (15-3)
Tue, May 5th	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (16-7)	#171
Wed, May 6th	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (9-5)	#48
Thu, May 7th	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#212
Fri, May 8th	@ SF	Robbie Ray (13-8)	#177
Sat, May 9th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (9-14)
Sun, May 10th	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (7-10)	#70
Tue, May 12th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-13)
Wed, May 13th	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#283
Thu, May 14th	vs COL	Chase Dollander (3-3)
Fri, May 15th	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (7-11)	#65
Sat, May 16th	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (18-7)	#6
Sun, May 17th	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (13-5)	#5
Tue, May 19th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (6-14)	#93
Wed, May 20th	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (7-9)	#104
Thu, May 21st	@ STL	Dustin May (7-9)	#35
Fri, May 22nd	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (9-12)	#37
Sat, May 23rd	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)
Sun, May 24th	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (11-6)
Mon, May 25th	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)
Tue, May 26th	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)
Wed, May 27th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)
Thu, May 28th	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-8)	#234
Fri, May 29th	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (12-6)	#43
Sat, May 30th	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-6)	#133
Sun, May 31st	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (9-11)	#126
Tue, Jun 2nd	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)
Wed, Jun 3rd	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (9-9)	#130
Thu, Jun 4th	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-7)	#244
Fri, Jun 5th	@ ATL	Martin Perez (9-9)	#68
Sat, Jun 6th	@ ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)
Sun, Jun 7th	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (8-8)
Tue, Jun 9th	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (8-7)
Wed, Jun 10th	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1
Thu, Jun 11th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (12-5)	#41
Fri, Jun 12th	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (13-11)	#112
Sat, Jun 13th	vs MIA	Lake Bachar (1-4)	#166
Sun, Jun 14th	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)
Mon, Jun 15th	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (9-8)
Tue, Jun 16th	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (3-12)	#148
Wed, Jun 17th	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (6-8)	#147
Fri, Jun 19th	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (4-11)	#194
Sat, Jun 20th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (12-12)	#265
Sun, Jun 21st	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-13)
Tue, Jun 23rd	vs SEA	George Kirby (9-11)	#33
Wed, Jun 24th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (12-10)	#12
Thu, Jun 25th	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-10)	#31
Fri, Jun 26th	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-11)	#140
Sat, Jun 27th	vs CIN	Chase Burns (15-3)
Sun, Jun 28th	vs CIN	Brady Singer (6-15)	#197
Mon, Jun 29th	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (7-11)	#65
Tue, Jun 30th	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (18-7)	#6
Wed, Jul 1st	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (13-5)	#5
Thu, Jul 2nd	@ PHI	Alan Rangel (0-3)
Fri, Jul 3rd	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (15-6)	#52
Sat, Jul 4th	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-2)
Sun, Jul 5th	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (13-5)	#34
Tue, Jul 7th	vs ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)
Wed, Jul 8th	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (10-6)	#174
Thu, Jul 9th	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (8-8)
Sat, Jul 11th	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (7-5)	#122
Sun, Jul 12th	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (5-5)	#44
Sat, Jul 18th	@ CLE	Logan Allen (0-0)	#204
Sun, Jul 19th	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (11-9)	#47
Mon, Jul 20th	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (5-8)
Wed, Jul 22nd	@ NYY	Max Fried (5-5)	#22
Fri, Jul 24th	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (10-5)	#76
Sat, Jul 25th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (11-10)	#49
Sun, Jul 26th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)
Mon, Jul 27th	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (10-14)	#125
Tue, Jul 28th	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (8-3)	#116
Wed, Jul 29th	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (16-7)	#171
Thu, Jul 30th	@ CIN	Rhett Lowder (6-12)	#181
Fri, Jul 31st	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)
Sat, Aug 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (6-11)	#140
Sun, Aug 2nd	@ CIN	Chase Burns (15-3)
Mon, Aug 3rd	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-7)
Tue, Aug 4th	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (11-3)	#11
Wed, Aug 5th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (10-5)	#62
Thu, Aug 6th	@ MIL	Dustin May (7-9)	#35
Fri, Aug 7th	vs NYM	Zac Thornton (5-6)	#111
Sat, Aug 8th	vs NYM	Robert Stock (1-3)
Sun, Aug 9th	vs NYM	Sean Manaea (6-7)	#45
Tue, Aug 11th	@ MIA	Eury Perez (8-11)	#21
Wed, Aug 12th	@ MIA	Janson Junk (6-9)	#127
Thu, Aug 13th	@ MIA	Tyler Phillips (5-6)	#236
Fri, Aug 14th	vs BOS	Jake Bennett (9-7)	#203
Sat, Aug 15th	vs BOS	Sonny Gray (18-5)	#46
Sun, Aug 16th	vs BOS	Patrick Sandoval (1-7)	#86
Mon, Aug 17th	vs DET	Framber Valdez (10-12)	#54
Tue, Aug 18th	vs DET	Keider Montero (10-9)	#191
Wed, Aug 19th	vs DET	Jackson Jobe (3-3)	#106
Fri, Aug 21st	@ LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-9)	#4
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ LAD	Tarik Skubal (12-7)	#2
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ LAD	Blake Snell (4-1)	#18
Mon, Aug 24th	@ SD	Robbie Ray (13-8)	#177
Tue, Aug 25th	@ SD	Michael King (12-10)	#60
Wed, Aug 26th	@ SD	Randy Vasquez (10-6)	#253
Fri, Aug 28th	@ STL	Quinn Mathews (2-3)	#97
Sat, Aug 29th	@ STL	Kyle Leahy (10-5)	#80
Sun, Aug 30th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (6-14)	#93
Tue, Sep 1st	vs SF	Logan Webb (8-9)
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs SF	Landen Roupp (9-14)
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs SF	Blade Tidwell (1-2)
Fri, Sep 4th	vs LAA	Ryan Johnson (5-9)	#154
Sat, Sep 5th	vs LAA	Yusei Kikuchi (1-6)	#56
Sun, Sep 6th	vs LAA	Walbert Urena (9-11)	#36
Tue, Sep 8th	@ CWS	Sean Burke (11-7)	#53
Wed, Sep 9th	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-7)	#72
Thu, Sep 10th	@ CWS	Hagen Smith (3-3)	#120
Fri, Sep 11th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (11-10)	#49
Sat, Sep 12th	@ CHC	Clay Holmes (6-8)	#81
Sun, Sep 13th	@ CHC	Matthew Boyd (10-5)	#76
Tue, Sep 15th	vs MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (15-5)	#7
Wed, Sep 16th	vs MIL	Logan Henderson (11-3)	#11
Thu, Sep 17th	vs MIL	Kyle Harrison (10-5)	#62
Fri, Sep 18th	vs KC	Randy Dobnak (3-5)	#239
Sat, Sep 19th	vs KC	Noah Cameron (9-8)	#85
Sun, Sep 20th	vs KC	Michael Wacha (9-9)	#96
Tue, Sep 22nd	vs STL	Andre Pallante (12-8)	#83
Wed, Sep 23rd	vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (6-14)	#93
Thu, Sep 24th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (10-5)	#80
Fri, Sep 25th	@ DET	Jackson Jobe (3-3)	#106
Sat, Sep 26th	@ DET	Justin Verlander (0-1)	#137
Sun, Sep 27th	@ DET	River Ryan (0-0)	#77

Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Max Kepler (2026)

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