Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Nathan Lukes (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

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

Rest of Season	# 175	# 284
VBR	# 272	# 290

Projections

Runs	20	20
Home Runs	8	4
RBI	24	18
Stolen Bases	1	1
Batting Average	.243	.264

Misc

Injury Alert	-	-

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 122	‐

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 125	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 199	# 268

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 128	# 225

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Nathan Lukes LF,CF,RF - TOR
2026 Stats


At Bats	108	210

Runs	24	23

Hits	33	61

Singles	12	48

Doubles	7	8

Triples	1	0

Home Runs	13	5

RBI	34	18

Stolen Bases	0	0

Caught Stealing	1	1

Walks	13	12

Strikeouts	46	34

Batting Average	.306	.291

On Base Pct	.377	.342

Slugging Pct	.750	.400

On-base Plus Slugging	1.127	.742

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Nathan Lukes LF,CF,RF - TOR
2026 Projections


At Bats	144	157

Runs	20	20

Hits	35	42

Singles	20	30

Doubles	7	8

Triples	0	1

Home Runs	8	4

RBI	24	18

Stolen Bases	1	1

Caught Stealing	0	1

Walks	15	13

Strikeouts	48	28

Batting Average	.243	.264

On Base Pct	.319	.324

Slugging Pct	.458	.391

On-base Plus Slugging	.777	.715

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Nathan Lukes LF,CF,RF - TOR
News
	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	Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in a 3-2 loss to the Rangers on Sunday. Brenton Kemp Mon, Jun 29th
	Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-4 with a home run in the Pirates 7-1 win in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Guardians. Ari Koslow Sun, Jul 19th	Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in a 3-1 loss to the Astros on Wednesday. Brenton Kemp Thu, Jun 25th
	Esmerlyn Valdez went yard three times across Saturday's doubleheader against the Brewers. Ari Koslow Sun, Jul 12th	Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes went 3-for-5 with a double, a run, and an RBI in an 8-3 loss to the Yankees on Sunday. Brenton Kemp Mon, Jun 15th
	Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-4 with a home run in the Pirates 10-5 loss against the Braves on Thursday. Ari Koslow Fri, Jul 10th	Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Nathan Lukes is available off the bench on Tuesday. Ari Koslow Tue, May 26th
	Esmerlyn Valdez went 2-for-4 with three RBI in the Pirates 6-1 win over the Phillies on Thursday. Ari Koslow Fri, Jul 3rd	Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes went 3-for-4 in an 8-2 loss to the Marlins on Monday. Brenton Kemp Tue, May 26th
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			Nathan Lukes LF,CF,RF - TOR
Thu, Mar 26th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#42
Sat, Mar 28th	@ NYM	David Peterson (4-7)	#84	vs ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-9)	#171
Sun, Mar 29th	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (7-6)	#31	vs ATH	Luis Morales (0-2)	#383
Mon, Mar 30th	@ CIN	Chase Burns (11-1)	#23	vs COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (9-4)	#433
Tue, Mar 31st	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#423	vs COL	Ryan Feltner (3-4)	#432
Wed, Apr 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#102	vs COL	Kyle Freeland (2-9)	#237
Fri, Apr 3rd	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (6-9)	#41	@ CWS	Grant Taylor (4-2)	#44
Sat, Apr 4th	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#70	@ CWS	Grant Taylor (4-2)	#44
Sun, Apr 5th	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#207	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#94
Mon, Apr 6th	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#360	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (10-2)	#78
Tue, Apr 7th	vs SD	Nick Pivetta (1-2)	#95	vs LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-6)	#12
Wed, Apr 8th	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#50	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1
Fri, Apr 10th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (6-8)	#27	vs MIN	Simeon Woods Richardson (1-7)	#365
Sat, Apr 11th	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#97	vs MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14
Sun, Apr 12th	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-5)	#101	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#45
Mon, Apr 13th	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (6-4)	#66
Tue, Apr 14th	vs WSH	PJ Poulin (3-0)	#293	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (10-4)	#7
Wed, Apr 15th	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-4)	#192	@ MIL	Chad Patrick (5-4)	#130
Thu, Apr 16th	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (11-2)	#63	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-4)	#124
Fri, Apr 17th	vs TB	Nick Martinez (9-2)	#104	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#71
Sat, Apr 18th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (7-5)	#18	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#170
Sun, Apr 19th	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34	@ ARI	Ryne Nelson (3-5)	#208
Tue, Apr 21st	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (2-8)	#92	@ LAA	Jack Kochanowicz (2-5)
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#134	@ LAA	Jose Soriano (8-6)	#47
Thu, Apr 23rd	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#8
Fri, Apr 24th	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)		vs CLE	Gavin Williams (10-5)	#26
Sat, Apr 25th	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (10-4)	#7	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-5)	#74
Sun, Apr 26th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#55	vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-6)	#111
Mon, Apr 27th	vs STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#52	vs BOS	Ranger Suarez (4-3)	#29
Tue, Apr 28th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#119	vs BOS	Payton Tolle (5-6)	#59
Wed, Apr 29th	vs STL	Andre Pallante (10-6)	#132	vs BOS	Brayan Bello (2-6)	#142
Thu, Apr 30th	vs STL	Hunter Dobbins (1-1)	#179	@ MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#89
Fri, May 1st	vs CIN	Brady Singer (4-9)	#147	@ MIN	Simeon Woods Richardson (1-7)	#365
Sat, May 2nd	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#197	@ MIN	Connor Prielipp (2-5)	#114
Sun, May 3rd	vs CIN	Chase Burns (11-1)	#23	@ MIN	Joe Ryan (6-6)	#14
Tue, May 5th	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (8-3)	#112	@ TB	Drew Rasmussen (7-5)	#18
Wed, May 6th	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#71	@ TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34
Thu, May 7th	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#170
Fri, May 8th	@ SF	Robbie Ray (8-6)	#86	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (3-6)	#43
Sat, May 9th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-8)	#57	vs LAA	Jack Kochanowicz (2-5)
Sun, May 10th	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (2-8)	#82	vs LAA	Jose Soriano (8-6)	#47
Tue, May 12th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#428	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (8-6)	#34
Wed, May 13th	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#431	vs TB	Griffin Jax (5-7)	#61
Thu, May 14th	vs COL	Chase Dollander (3-3)
Fri, May 15th	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-7)	#51	@ DET	Brenan Hanifee
Sat, May 16th	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (12-4)	#4	@ DET	Casey Mize (4-6)	#39
Sun, May 17th	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-1)	#5	@ DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#54
Tue, May 19th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-6)	#109	@ NYY	Will Warren (7-4)	#65
Wed, May 20th	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-7)	#88	@ NYY	Cam Schlittler (9-6)	#20
Thu, May 21st	@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#52	@ NYY	Carlos Rodon (4-2)	#116
Fri, May 22nd	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-8)	#19	vs PIT	Bubba Chandler (3-8)	#123
Sat, May 23rd	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#244	vs PIT	Paul Skenes (9-8)	#3
Sun, May 24th	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (6-5)	#9	vs PIT	Mitch Keller (6-7)	#113
Mon, May 25th	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#103	vs MIA	Janson Junk (4-6)	#106
Tue, May 26th	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#231	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (10-5)	#53
Wed, May 27th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-5)	#101	vs MIA	Eury Perez (5-7)	#48
Thu, May 28th	vs CHC	Colin Rea (7-6)	#195	@ BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#207
Fri, May 29th	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#45	@ BAL	Trevor Rogers (6-7)	#69
Sat, May 30th	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#89	@ BAL	Brandon Young (8-2)	#131
Sun, May 31st	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-7)	#108	@ BAL	Kyle Bradish (6-9)	#41
Tue, Jun 2nd	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#181	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#128
Wed, Jun 3rd	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#154	@ ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#151
Thu, Jun 4th	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (4-6)	#240	@ ATL	Chris Sale (10-6)	#6
Fri, Jun 5th	@ ATL	Martin Perez (6-6)	#185	vs BAL	Brandon Young (8-2)	#131
Sat, Jun 6th	@ ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)	#209	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (6-9)	#41
Sun, Jun 7th	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#128	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#70
Tue, Jun 9th	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (4-5)	#300	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-1)	#5
Wed, Jun 10th	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1	vs PHI	Jesus Luzardo (9-4)	#10
Thu, Jun 11th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (10-2)	#78
Fri, Jun 12th	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (10-5)	#53	vs NYY	Ryan Weathers (3-7)	#56
Sat, Jun 13th	vs MIA	Lake Bachar (1-1)	#187	vs NYY	Cam Schlittler (9-6)	#20
Sun, Jun 14th	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#60	vs NYY	Will Warren (7-4)	#65
Mon, Jun 15th	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#143
Tue, Jun 16th	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (2-5)	#107	@ BOS	Payton Tolle (5-6)	#59
Wed, Jun 17th	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#239	@ BOS	Jake Bennett (5-3)	#133
Fri, Jun 19th	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (2-9)	#237	@ CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#103
Sat, Jun 20th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (9-4)	#433	@ CHC	Colin Rea (7-6)	#195
Sun, Jun 21st	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#428
Tue, Jun 23rd	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-8)	#21	vs HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#136
Wed, Jun 24th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-6)	#13	vs HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#181
Thu, Jun 25th	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-4)	#38	vs TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-8)	#35
Fri, Jun 26th	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#102	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (9-8)	#17
Sat, Jun 27th	vs CIN	Chase Burns (11-1)	#23	vs TEX	Cal Quantrill (3-2)	#318
Sun, Jun 28th	vs CIN	Brady Singer (4-9)	#147	vs TEX	Kumar Rocker (2-8)	#92
Mon, Jun 29th	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-7)	#51	vs NYM	Sean Manaea (2-5)	#81
Tue, Jun 30th	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (12-4)	#4	vs NYM	Nolan McLean (7-6)	#31
Wed, Jul 1st	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-1)	#5	vs NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#42
Thu, Jul 2nd	@ PHI	Alan Rangel (0-3)	#315
Fri, Jul 3rd	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (11-2)	#63	@ SEA	Luis Castillo (3-8)	#67
Sat, Jul 4th	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-1)	#297	@ SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#11
Sun, Jul 5th	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (6-4)	#66	@ SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-4)	#93
Tue, Jul 7th	vs ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)	#224	@ SF	Trevor McDonald (3-7)	#163
Wed, Jul 8th	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#151	@ SF	Logan Webb (5-7)	#15
Thu, Jul 9th	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#128
Sat, Jul 11th	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (5-3)	#85	@ SD	Walker Buehler (5-5)	#190
Sun, Jul 12th	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (2-4)	#137	@ SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#360
Sat, Jul 18th	@ CLE	Logan Allen (0-0)	#162	vs CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#94
Sun, Jul 19th	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-5)	#74	vs CWS	Sean Burke (7-4)	#87
Mon, Jul 20th	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (3-7)	#56	vs TB	Nick Martinez (9-2)	#104
Tue, Jul 21st	@ NYY	Will Warren (7-4)	#65	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (7-5)	#18
Wed, Jul 22nd	@ NYY	Gerrit Cole (3-5)	#30	vs TB	Griffin Jax (5-7)	#61
Fri, Jul 24th	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#37	@ BOS	Patrick Sandoval (0-0)	#148
Sat, Jul 25th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (6-8)	#27	@ BOS	Sonny Gray (12-1)	#32
Sun, Jul 26th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-5)	#101	@ BOS	Payton Tolle (5-6)	#59
Mon, Jul 27th	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (7-8)	#115	@ WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-7)	#334
Tue, Jul 28th	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (4-1)	#72	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (6-4)	#66
Wed, Jul 29th	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (8-3)	#112	@ WSH	Zack Littell (7-7)	#182
Thu, Jul 30th	@ CIN
Fri, Jul 31st	@ CIN			vs STL
Sat, Aug 1st	@ CIN			vs STL
Sun, Aug 2nd	@ CIN			vs STL
Mon, Aug 3rd	@ MIL			@ HOU
Tue, Aug 4th	@ MIL			@ HOU
Wed, Aug 5th	@ MIL			@ HOU
Thu, Aug 6th	@ MIL			@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (6-8)	#27
Fri, Aug 7th	vs NYM			@ PHI
Sat, Aug 8th	vs NYM			@ PHI
Sun, Aug 9th	vs NYM			@ PHI
Tue, Aug 11th	@ MIA			vs BOS
Wed, Aug 12th	@ MIA			vs BOS
Thu, Aug 13th	@ MIA			vs BOS
Fri, Aug 14th	vs BOS			vs NYY
Sat, Aug 15th	vs BOS			vs NYY
Sun, Aug 16th	vs BOS			vs NYY
Mon, Aug 17th	vs DET
Tue, Aug 18th	vs DET			@ TB
Wed, Aug 19th	vs DET			@ TB
Fri, Aug 21st	@ LAD			@ NYY
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ LAD			@ NYY
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ LAD			@ NYY
Mon, Aug 24th	@ SD
Tue, Aug 25th	@ SD			vs KC
Wed, Aug 26th	@ SD			vs KC
Fri, Aug 28th	@ STL			vs SEA
Sat, Aug 29th	@ STL			vs SEA
Sun, Aug 30th	@ STL			vs SEA
Tue, Sep 1st	vs SF			@ CLE
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs SF			@ CLE
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs SF			@ CLE
Fri, Sep 4th	vs LAA			@ KC
Sat, Sep 5th	vs LAA			@ KC
Sun, Sep 6th	vs LAA			@ KC
Tue, Sep 8th	@ CWS			@ ATH
Wed, Sep 9th	@ CWS			@ ATH
Thu, Sep 10th	@ CWS
Fri, Sep 11th	@ CHC			vs BAL
Sat, Sep 12th	@ CHC			vs BAL
Sun, Sep 13th	@ CHC			vs BAL
Tue, Sep 15th	vs MIL			vs DET
Wed, Sep 16th	vs MIL			vs DET
Thu, Sep 17th	vs MIL
Fri, Sep 18th	vs KC			@ TEX
Sat, Sep 19th	vs KC			@ TEX
Sun, Sep 20th	vs KC			@ TEX
Tue, Sep 22nd	vs STL			@ BAL
Wed, Sep 23rd	vs STL			@ BAL
Thu, Sep 24th	vs STL
Fri, Sep 25th	@ DET			vs CIN
Sat, Sep 26th	@ DET			vs CIN
Sun, Sep 27th	@ DET			vs CIN
Fri, Mar 27th				vs ATH	Luis Severino (2-6)	#183
Mon, Apr 20th				@ LAA	Reid Detmers (3-6)	#43
Mon, May 4th				@ TB	Nick Martinez (9-2)	#104
Mon, May 11th				vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (7-5)	#18
Mon, May 18th				@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (3-7)	#56
Mon, Jun 8th				vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (12-4)	#4
Thu, Jun 18th				@ BOS	Sonny Gray (12-1)	#32
Mon, Jun 22nd				vs HOU	Hunter Brown (1-1)	#22
Mon, Jul 6th				@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-8)	#57
Fri, Jul 10th				@ SD	JP Sears (2-3)	#164
Fri, Jul 17th				vs CWS	Anthony Kay (6-4)	#200
Thu, Jul 23rd				vs TB	Ian Seymour (6-2)	#76
Mon, Aug 10th				vs BOS
Thu, Aug 20th				@ TB
Thu, Aug 27th				vs KC
Mon, Sep 7th				@ ATH
Mon, Sep 14th				vs DET
Mon, Sep 21st				@ BAL

Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Nathan Lukes (2026)

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