Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Ryan Mountcastle (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

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

Rest of Season	# 167	‐
VBR	# 239	# 1145

Projections

Runs	18	7
Home Runs	6	2
RBI	20	7
Stolen Bases	0	0
Batting Average	.239	.259

Misc

Injury Alert	-	IL60

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 118	‐

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 99	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 188	# 372

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 128	‐

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Ryan Mountcastle 1B,DH - BAL
2026 Stats


At Bats	137	14

Runs	26	0

Hits	38	4

Singles	14	3

Doubles	9	1

Triples	1	0

Home Runs	14	0

RBI	36	1

Stolen Bases	0	0

Caught Stealing	1	0

Walks	20	1

Strikeouts	56	2

Batting Average	.277	.286

On Base Pct	.371	.333

Slugging Pct	.664	.357

On-base Plus Slugging	1.035	.691

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Ryan Mountcastle 1B,DH - BAL
2026 Projections


At Bats	130	54

Runs	18	7

Hits	31	14

Singles	18	9

Doubles	6	3

Triples	0	0

Home Runs	6	2

RBI	20	7

Stolen Bases	0	0

Caught Stealing	0	0

Walks	15	4

Strikeouts	43	14

Batting Average	.239	.259

On Base Pct	.322	.309

Slugging Pct	.443	.425

On-base Plus Slugging	.766	.734

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Ryan Mountcastle 1B,DH - BAL
News
	Esmerlyn Valdez is expected to be in the lineup in Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Ryan Mountcastle underwent an MRI that revealed a pulled oblique strain. Ari Koslow Fri, Jul 31st
	The Pirates didn’t provide an update on Esmerlyn Valdez following Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Ryan Mountcastle is no longer starting a rehab assignment on Tuesday. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th
	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	Ryan Mountcastle will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday. Ari Koslow Mon, Jul 27th
	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	Ryan Mountcastle resumed running in Florida. Ari Koslow Sat, Jun 13th
	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	Ryan Mountcastle's timeline to return is “June, pushing into July." Ari Koslow Fri, May 15th
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			Ryan Mountcastle 1B,DH - BAL
Thu, Mar 26th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38	vs MIN	Joe Ryan (6-7)	#19
Sat, Mar 28th	@ NYM	David Peterson (6-7)	#67	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#50
Sun, Mar 29th	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (7-7)	#28	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#83
Mon, Mar 30th	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#123
Tue, Mar 31st	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#330	vs TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#7
Wed, Apr 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	vs TEX	Nathan Eovaldi (10-8)	#17
Fri, Apr 3rd	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-9)	#49	@ PIT	Mitch Keller (6-7)	#121
Sat, Apr 4th	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#73	@ PIT	Carmen Mlodzinski (6-3)	#119
Sun, Apr 5th	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#261	@ PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (10-4)	#33
Mon, Apr 6th	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#357	@ CWS	Grant Taylor (4-2)	#43
Tue, Apr 7th	vs SD	Nick Pivetta (1-2)	#107	@ CWS	Shane Smith (0-2)	#194
Wed, Apr 8th	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#58	@ CWS	Sean Burke (7-5)	#71
Fri, Apr 10th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25	vs SF	Landen Roupp (7-9)	#61
Sat, Apr 11th	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#79	vs SF	Logan Webb (6-7)	#16
Sun, Apr 12th	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	vs SF	Adrian Houser (2-7)	#188
Mon, Apr 13th	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52	vs ARI	Ryne Nelson (3-5)	#199
Tue, Apr 14th	vs WSH	PJ Poulin (3-0)	#280	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#126
Wed, Apr 15th	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-5)	#166	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127
Thu, Apr 16th	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51	@ CLE	Parker Messick (8-6)	#45
Fri, Apr 17th	vs TB	Nick Martinez (10-2)	#95	@ CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-10)	#56
Sat, Apr 18th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (9-5)	#20	@ CLE	Gavin Williams (10-6)	#21
Sun, Apr 19th	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#35	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#76
Tue, Apr 21st	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#88	@ KC	Kris Bubic (3-2)	#114
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#123	@ KC	Michael Wacha (5-7)	#78
Thu, Apr 23rd	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#7
Fri, Apr 24th	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)		vs BOS	Brayan Bello (2-6)	#124
Sat, Apr 25th	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-4)	#6	vs BOS	Garrett Crochet (3-3)	#243
Sun, Apr 26th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#47	vs BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#167
Mon, Apr 27th	vs STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#55
Tue, Apr 28th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#103	vs HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#262
Wed, Apr 29th	vs STL	Andre Pallante (11-6)	#115
Thu, Apr 30th	vs STL	Hunter Dobbins (2-1)	#170	vs HOU	Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3)	#290
Fri, May 1st	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142	@ NYY	Will Warren (7-5)	#68
Sat, May 2nd	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57
Sun, May 3rd	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#15
Tue, May 5th	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127	@ MIA	Sandy Alcantara (11-6)	#65
Wed, May 6th	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#63	@ MIA	Eury Perez (5-8)	#42
Thu, May 7th	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#177	@ MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#77
Fri, May 8th	@ SF	Robbie Ray (10-6)	#102	vs ATH	Jacob Lopez (5-4)	#203
Sat, May 9th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-9)	#61	vs ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#190
Sun, May 10th	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (3-9)	#74	vs ATH	Luis Severino (2-6)	#235
Tue, May 12th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#433	vs NYY	Will Warren (7-5)	#68
Wed, May 13th	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#430	vs NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#15
Thu, May 14th	vs COL	Chase Dollander (3-3)
Fri, May 15th	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59	@ WSH	Zack Littell (7-8)	#201
Sat, May 16th	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52
Sun, May 17th	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8	@ WSH	Richard Lovelady (2-4)	#392
Tue, May 19th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-8)	#125	@ TB	Griffin Jax (6-8)	#60
Wed, May 20th	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-9)	#87	@ TB	Steven Matz (4-4)	#196
Thu, May 21st	@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#55
Fri, May 22nd	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#30	vs DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#99
Sat, May 23rd	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#313
Sun, May 24th	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#9	vs DET	Troy Melton (6-1)	#96
Mon, May 25th	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#97	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#35
Tue, May 26th	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#222	vs TB	Griffin Jax (6-8)	#60
Wed, May 27th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	vs TB	Steven Matz (4-4)	#196
Thu, May 28th	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-7)	#176	vs TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#313
Fri, May 29th	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#50	vs TOR	Adam Macko (2-0)	#246
Sat, May 30th	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#83	vs TOR	Trey Yesavage (5-5)	#69
Sun, May 31st	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-8)	#104	vs TOR	Spencer Miles (4-2)	#91
Tue, Jun 2nd	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#227	@ BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#167
Wed, Jun 3rd	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#279	@ BOS	Payton Tolle (6-6)	#44
Thu, Jun 4th	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#262	@ BOS	Brayan Bello (2-6)	#124
Fri, Jun 5th	@ ATL	Martin Perez (6-6)	#224	@ TOR	Trey Yesavage (5-5)	#69
Sat, Jun 6th	@ ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)	#303	@ TOR	Braydon Fisher (3-3)	#178
Sun, Jun 7th	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#30
Tue, Jun 9th	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (6-5)	#370	vs SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#10
Wed, Jun 10th	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#22
Thu, Jun 11th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#90	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-8)	#13
Fri, Jun 12th	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (11-6)	#65	vs SD	Griffin Canning (2-9)	#172
Sat, Jun 13th	vs MIA	Lake Bachar (1-2)	#193	vs SD	Randy Vasquez (6-6)	#257
Sun, Jun 14th	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#77	vs SD	Walker Buehler (6-5)	#217
Mon, Jun 15th	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#165
Tue, Jun 16th	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (2-6)	#101	@ SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#10
Wed, Jun 17th	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#190	@ SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#22
Fri, Jun 19th	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (2-10)	#375	@ LAD	Roki Sasaki (5-5)	#100
Sat, Jun 20th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4)	#434	@ LAD	Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-6)	#11
Sun, Jun 21st	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#433	@ LAD	Emmet Sheehan (4-7)	#48
Tue, Jun 23rd	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#22	@ LAA	Ryan Johnson (2-5)	#169
Wed, Jun 24th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-8)	#13	@ LAA	Jose Soriano (9-6)	#53
Thu, Jun 25th	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-5)	#39
Fri, Jun 26th	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	vs WSH	Andrew Alvarez (2-3)	#192
Sat, Jun 27th	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51
Sun, Jun 28th	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142	vs WSH	Zack Littell (7-8)	#201
Mon, Jun 29th	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59	vs CWS	Sean Burke (7-5)	#71
Tue, Jun 30th	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	vs CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#385
Wed, Jul 1st	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8	vs CWS	Noah Schultz (3-7)	#209
Thu, Jul 2nd	@ PHI	Alan Rangel (0-3)	#301
Fri, Jul 3rd	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51	@ CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142
Sat, Jul 4th	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-1)	#323	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#26
Sun, Jul 5th	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52	@ CIN	Nick Lodolo (3-2)	#118
Tue, Jul 7th	vs ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)	#306	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#32
Wed, Jul 8th	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#137	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-7)	#176
Thu, Jul 9th	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133	vs CHC	David Peterson (6-7)	#67
Sat, Jul 11th	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#75	vs KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#94
Sun, Jul 12th	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#112	vs KC	Seth Lugo (4-6)	#131
Sat, Jul 18th	@ CLE	Logan Allen (0-0)	#155	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#279
Sun, Jul 19th	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#76	@ HOU	Hunter Brown (2-1)	#18
Mon, Jul 20th	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57	@ BOS	Payton Tolle (6-6)	#44
Wed, Jul 22nd	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#15	@ BOS	Eduardo Rivera (0-1)	#232
Fri, Jul 24th	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#32	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#137
Sat, Jul 25th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133
Sun, Jul 26th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	vs ATL	Reynaldo Lopez (4-3)	#84
Mon, Jul 27th	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#126	@ DET	Keider Montero (7-6)	#144
Tue, Jul 28th	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (5-1)	#70	@ DET	Troy Melton (6-1)	#96
Wed, Jul 29th	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127	@ DET	Tarik Skubal (7-5)	#2
Thu, Jul 30th	@ CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287
Fri, Jul 31st	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#26	vs PHI	Andrew Painter (1-8)	#215
Sat, Aug 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4
Sun, Aug 2nd	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8
Mon, Aug 3rd	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-6)	#141
Tue, Aug 4th	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (5-1)	#41	vs LAA	Reid Detmers (3-7)	#36
Wed, Aug 5th	@ MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#75	vs LAA	Grayson Rodriguez (3-3)	#122
Thu, Aug 6th	@ MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#112	vs LAA	Ryan Johnson (2-5)	#169
Fri, Aug 7th	vs NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#7
Sat, Aug 8th	vs NYM	Clay Holmes (4-4)	#116	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#88
Sun, Aug 9th	vs NYM	Christian Scott (3-3)	#54	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#88
Tue, Aug 11th	@ MIA			@ MIN
Wed, Aug 12th	@ MIA			@ MIN
Thu, Aug 13th	@ MIA
Fri, Aug 14th	vs BOS			@ TB
Sat, Aug 15th	vs BOS			@ TB
Sun, Aug 16th	vs BOS			@ TB
Mon, Aug 17th	vs DET			@ TB
Tue, Aug 18th	vs DET			vs NYY
Wed, Aug 19th	vs DET			vs NYY
Fri, Aug 21st	@ LAD			vs TB
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ LAD			vs TB
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ LAD			vs TB
Mon, Aug 24th	@ SD
Tue, Aug 25th	@ SD			@ STL
Wed, Aug 26th	@ SD			@ STL
Fri, Aug 28th	@ STL			@ ATH
Sat, Aug 29th	@ STL			@ ATH
Sun, Aug 30th	@ STL			@ ATH
Tue, Sep 1st	vs SF			@ COL
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs SF			@ COL
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs SF			vs BOS
Fri, Sep 4th	vs LAA			vs BOS
Sat, Sep 5th	vs LAA			vs BOS
Sun, Sep 6th	vs LAA			vs BOS
Tue, Sep 8th	@ CWS			vs CLE
Wed, Sep 9th	@ CWS			vs CLE
Thu, Sep 10th	@ CWS
Fri, Sep 11th	@ CHC			@ TOR
Sat, Sep 12th	@ CHC			@ TOR
Sun, Sep 13th	@ CHC			@ TOR
Tue, Sep 15th	vs MIL			@ NYM
Wed, Sep 16th	vs MIL			@ NYM
Thu, Sep 17th	vs MIL
Fri, Sep 18th	vs KC			vs MIL
Sat, Sep 19th	vs KC			vs MIL
Sun, Sep 20th	vs KC			vs MIL
Tue, Sep 22nd	vs STL			vs TOR
Wed, Sep 23rd	vs STL			vs TOR
Thu, Sep 24th	vs STL
Fri, Sep 25th	@ DET			@ NYY
Sat, Sep 26th	@ DET			@ NYY
Sun, Sep 27th	@ DET			@ NYY
Mon, Apr 20th				@ KC	Seth Lugo (4-6)	#131
Mon, May 4th				@ NYY	Cam Schlittler (10-6)	#14
Mon, May 11th				vs NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57
Mon, May 18th				@ TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#35
Mon, Jun 8th				vs SEA	Emerson Hancock (6-5)	#85
Thu, Jun 18th				@ SEA	Bryan Woo (7-8)	#13
Mon, Jun 22nd				@ LAA	Sam Aldegheri (3-4)	#426
Fri, Jul 10th				vs KC	Luinder Avila (5-3)	#298
Fri, Jul 17th				@ HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#148
Mon, Aug 10th				@ MIN
Thu, Aug 20th				vs NYY
Thu, Aug 27th				@ STL
Mon, Aug 31st				@ COL
Mon, Sep 7th				vs CLE
Mon, Sep 14th				@ NYM
Mon, Sep 21st				vs TOR

Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Ryan Mountcastle (2026)

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