Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Walker Jenkins (2026)

Summary
Stats
Projections
News & Notes
Schedule

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

Rest of Season	# 167	‐
VBR	# 239	# 1330

Projections

Runs	18	1
Home Runs	6	0
RBI	20	1
Stolen Bases	0	0
Batting Average	.239	.210

Misc

Injury Alert	-	MiLB

Expert Ranks

Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports	# 118	‐

Chris Welsh FantasyPros	# 99	‐

Kelly Kirby FantasyPros	# 188	‐

Kevin Spinelli KevScores	# 128	‐

Who Should I Trade? Player Statistics
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Walker Jenkins CF - MIN
2026 Stats


At Bats	133	‐

Runs	26	‐

Hits	37	‐

Singles	14	‐

Doubles	8	‐

Triples	1	‐

Home Runs	14	‐

RBI	36	‐

Stolen Bases	0	‐

Caught Stealing	1	‐

Walks	20	‐

Strikeouts	56	‐

Batting Average	.278	‐

On Base Pct	.374	‐

Slugging Pct	.669	‐

On-base Plus Slugging	1.043	‐

Who Should I Trade? Player Projections
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Walker Jenkins CF - MIN
2026 Projections


At Bats	130	7

Runs	18	1

Hits	31	2

Singles	18	1

Doubles	6	0

Triples	0	0

Home Runs	6	0

RBI	20	1

Stolen Bases	0	0

Caught Stealing	0	0

Walks	15	1

Strikeouts	43	2

Batting Average	.239	.210

On Base Pct	.322	.306

Slugging Pct	.443	.262

On-base Plus Slugging	.766	.568

Who Should I Trade? Player Notes
	Esmerlyn Valdez 1B,LF,RF - PIT	Walker Jenkins CF - MIN
News
	Esmerlyn Valdez is expected to be in the lineup in Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Walker Jenkins is back in the Triple-A St. Paul lineup on Tuesday. Ari Koslow Tue, Jun 23rd
	The Pirates didn’t provide an update on Esmerlyn Valdez following Monday’s game against the Diamondbacks. Ari Koslow Tue, Jul 28th	Walker Jenkins is continuing his rehab assignment with Single-A Cedar Rapids. Ari Koslow Mon, Jun 15th
	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	Twins OF prospect Walker Jenkins has begun hitting off a machine. Ari Koslow Tue, Jun 2nd
	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	Twins prospect Walker Jenkins has a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. Ari Koslow Mon, May 4th
	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	Twins prospect Walker Jenkins was forced to leave Triple-A St. Paul’s game on Sunday with a shoulder injury. Ari Koslow Sun, May 3rd
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			Walker Jenkins CF - MIN
Thu, Mar 26th	@ NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38	@ BAL	Trevor Rogers (6-7)	#72
Sat, Mar 28th	@ NYM	David Peterson (6-7)	#67	@ BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-9)	#49
Sun, Mar 29th	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (7-7)	#28	@ BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#73
Mon, Mar 30th	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	@ KC	Kris Bubic (3-2)	#114
Tue, Mar 31st	@ CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#330
Wed, Apr 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	@ KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#94
Fri, Apr 3rd	vs BAL	Kyle Bradish (7-9)	#49	vs TB	Joe Boyle (0-1)	#191
Sat, Apr 4th	vs BAL	Shane Baz (4-9)	#73	vs TB	Steven Matz (4-4)	#196
Sun, Apr 5th	vs BAL	Chris Bassitt (4-4)	#261	vs TB	Nick Martinez (10-2)	#95
Mon, Apr 6th	vs SD	German Marquez (4-2)	#357	vs DET	Casey Mize (4-6)	#46
Tue, Apr 7th	vs SD	Nick Pivetta (1-2)	#107	vs DET	Tarik Skubal (7-5)	#2
Wed, Apr 8th	vs SD	Michael King (6-7)	#58	vs DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#34
Fri, Apr 10th	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#313
Sat, Apr 11th	@ CHC	Edward Cabrera (5-4)	#79	@ TOR	Eric Lauer (6-5)	#370
Sun, Apr 12th	@ CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	@ TOR	Max Scherzer (1-4)	#150
Mon, Apr 13th	vs WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52	vs BOS	Garrett Crochet (3-3)	#243
Tue, Apr 14th	vs WSH	PJ Poulin (3-0)	#280	vs BOS	Sonny Gray (12-2)	#29
Wed, Apr 15th	vs WSH	Jake Irvin (2-4)	#166	vs BOS	Connelly Early (7-5)	#167
Thu, Apr 16th	vs WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51
Fri, Apr 17th	vs TB	Nick Martinez (10-2)	#95	vs CIN	Brandon Williamson (2-3)	#330
Sat, Apr 18th	vs TB	Drew Rasmussen (9-5)	#20	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108
Sun, Apr 19th	vs TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#35	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142
Tue, Apr 21st	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#88	@ NYM	Nolan McLean (7-7)	#28
Wed, Apr 22nd	@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#123	@ NYM	Clay Holmes (4-4)	#116
Thu, Apr 23rd	@ TEX	Jacob deGrom (7-6)	#7	@ NYM	Christian Scott (3-3)	#54
Fri, Apr 24th	@ MIL	Brandon Woodruff (2-2)		@ TB	Drew Rasmussen (9-5)	#20
Sat, Apr 25th	@ MIL	Jacob Misiorowski (11-4)	#6	@ TB	Shane McClanahan (9-6)	#35
Sun, Apr 26th	@ MIL	Kyle Harrison (8-2)	#47	@ TB	Griffin Jax (6-8)	#60
Mon, Apr 27th	vs STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#55	vs SEA	Luis Castillo (3-9)	#64
Tue, Apr 28th	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#103	vs SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#10
Wed, Apr 29th	vs STL	Andre Pallante (11-6)	#115	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#22
Thu, Apr 30th	vs STL	Hunter Dobbins (2-1)	#170	vs TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#30
Fri, May 1st	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142	vs TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#313
Sat, May 2nd	vs CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287	vs TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#9
Sun, May 3rd	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs TOR	Trey Yesavage (5-5)	#69
Tue, May 5th	@ ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52
Wed, May 6th	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#63	@ WSH	Miles Mikolas (3-7)	#304
Thu, May 7th	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#177	@ WSH	Jake Irvin (2-4)	#166
Fri, May 8th	@ SF	Robbie Ray (9-6)	#102	@ CLE	Parker Messick (8-6)	#45
Sat, May 9th	@ SF	Landen Roupp (7-9)	#61	@ CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-10)	#56
Sun, May 10th	@ SF	Tyler Mahle (3-9)	#74	@ CLE	Gavin Williams (10-6)	#21
Tue, May 12th	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#433	vs MIA	Eury Perez (5-8)	#42
Wed, May 13th	vs COL	Jose Quintana (2-3)	#430	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#77
Thu, May 14th	vs COL	Chase Dollander (3-3)		vs MIA	Braxton Garrett (0-1)	#173
Fri, May 15th	vs PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59	vs MIL	Coleman Crow (0-1)	#226
Sat, May 16th	vs PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	vs MIL	Logan Henderson (5-1)	#41
Sun, May 17th	vs PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#112
Tue, May 19th	@ STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-8)	#125	vs HOU	Jason Alexander (1-1)	#416
Wed, May 20th	@ STL	Michael McGreevy (4-9)	#87	vs HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#227
Thu, May 21st	@ STL	Dustin May (5-7)	#55
Fri, May 22nd	@ TOR	Kevin Gausman (4-10)	#30	@ BOS	Payton Tolle (6-6)	#44
Sat, May 23rd	@ TOR	Patrick Corbin (3-4)	#313	@ BOS	Jovani Moran (2-2)	#147
Sun, May 24th	@ TOR	Dylan Cease (7-5)	#9	@ BOS	Sonny Gray (12-2)	#29
Mon, May 25th	vs CHC	Ben Brown (4-2)	#97	@ CWS	Anthony Kay (7-5)	#205
Tue, May 26th	vs CHC	Jordan Wicks (0-2)	#222	@ CWS	Sean Burke (7-5)	#71
Wed, May 27th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	@ CWS	David Sandlin (2-1)	#311
Thu, May 28th	vs CHC	Colin Rea (8-7)	#176	@ CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#82
Fri, May 29th	vs MIN	Taj Bradley (9-4)	#50	@ PIT	Jared Jones (2-2)	#40
Sat, May 30th	vs MIN	Bailey Ober (7-3)	#83	@ PIT	Mitch Keller (6-7)	#121
Sun, May 31st	vs MIN	Zebby Matthews (4-8)	#104	@ PIT	Braxton Ashcraft (10-4)	#33
Tue, Jun 2nd	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#227	vs CWS	Davis Martin (9-5)	#82
Wed, Jun 3rd	@ HOU	Spencer Arrighetti (7-5)	#279	vs CWS	Erick Fedde (5-6)	#385
Thu, Jun 4th	@ HOU	Kai-Wei Teng (5-6)	#262	vs KC	Seth Lugo (4-6)	#131
Fri, Jun 5th	@ ATL	Martin Perez (6-6)	#224	vs KC	Michael Wacha (5-7)	#78
Sat, Jun 6th	@ ATL	Spencer Strider (4-2)	#303	vs KC	Luinder Avila (5-3)	#298
Sun, Jun 7th	@ ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133	vs KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#94
Tue, Jun 9th	vs LAD	Eric Lauer (6-5)	#370	@ DET	Troy Melton (6-1)	#96
Wed, Jun 10th	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1	@ DET	Framber Valdez (5-7)	#34
Thu, Jun 11th	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#90	@ DET	Keider Montero (7-6)	#144
Fri, Jun 12th	vs MIA	Sandy Alcantara (11-6)	#65	vs STL	Kyle Leahy (7-4)	#103
Sat, Jun 13th	vs MIA	Lake Bachar (1-2)	#193	vs STL	Matthew Liberatore (5-8)	#125
Sun, Jun 14th	vs MIA	Max Meyer (9-1)	#77	vs STL	Michael McGreevy (4-9)	#87
Mon, Jun 15th	@ ATH	J.T. Ginn (8-6)	#165	@ TEX	MacKenzie Gore (6-9)	#37
Tue, Jun 16th	@ ATH	Jack Perkins (2-6)	#101	@ TEX	Kumar Rocker (4-8)	#88
Wed, Jun 17th	@ ATH	Aaron Civale (5-7)	#190
Fri, Jun 19th	@ COL	Kyle Freeland (2-10)	#375	@ ARI	Michael Soroka (8-3)	#63
Sat, Jun 20th	@ COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4)	#434	@ ARI	Zac Gallen (3-9)	#177
Sun, Jun 21st	@ COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#433	@ ARI
Tue, Jun 23rd	vs SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#22	vs LAD	Justin Wrobleski (11-2)	#90
Wed, Jun 24th	vs SEA	Bryan Woo (7-7)	#13	vs LAD	Shohei Ohtani (8-2)	#1
Thu, Jun 25th	vs SEA	Bryce Miller (4-5)	#39
Fri, Jun 26th	vs CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	vs COL	Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4)	#434
Sat, Jun 27th	vs CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	vs COL	Michael Lorenzen (3-9)	#433
Sun, Jun 28th	vs CIN	Brady Singer (5-10)	#142	vs COL	Ryan Feltner (3-5)	#432
Mon, Jun 29th	@ PHI	Aaron Nola (3-9)	#59	@ HOU	Peter Lambert (8-5)	#148
Tue, Jun 30th	@ PHI	Cristopher Sanchez (13-4)	#4	@ HOU	Mike Burrows (4-9)	#227
Wed, Jul 1st	@ PHI	Zack Wheeler (10-2)	#8	@ HOU	Tatsuya Imai (6-4)	#151
Thu, Jul 2nd	@ PHI	Alan Rangel (0-3)	#301
Fri, Jul 3rd	@ WSH	Foster Griffin (12-2)	#51	@ NYY	Gerrit Cole (4-5)	#24
Sat, Jul 4th	@ WSH	Carson Palmquist (0-1)	#323	@ NYY	Brendan Beck (0-1)	#214
Sun, Jul 5th	@ WSH	Cade Cavalli (8-4)	#52	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57
Tue, Jul 7th	vs ATL	Hurston Waldrep (0-1)	#306	vs CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#76
Wed, Jul 8th	vs ATL	Grant Holmes (6-4)	#137	vs CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-7)	#132
Thu, Jul 9th	vs ATL	Bryce Elder (6-6)	#133	vs CLE	Gavin Williams (10-6)	#21
Sat, Jul 11th	vs MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#75	vs LAA	Ryan Johnson (2-5)	#169
Sun, Jul 12th	vs MIL	Robert Gasser (3-4)	#112	vs LAA	Jose Soriano (9-6)	#53
Sat, Jul 18th	@ CLE	Logan Allen (0-0)	#155	@ CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#32
Sun, Jul 19th	@ CLE	Joey Cantillo (8-6)	#76	@ CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25
Mon, Jul 20th	@ NYY	Ryan Weathers (4-7)	#57	@ CLE	Tanner Bibee (4-10)	#56
Wed, Jul 22nd	@ NYY	Max Fried (4-3)	#15	@ CLE	Slade Cecconi (4-7)	#132
Fri, Jul 24th	vs CHC	Matthew Boyd (6-1)	#32	vs ATH	Jacob Lopez (5-4)	#203
Sat, Jul 25th	vs CHC	Shota Imanaga (7-8)	#25	vs ATH	Brady Basso	#200
Sun, Jul 26th	vs CHC	Jameson Taillon (2-6)	#171	vs ATH	Jeffrey Springs (3-10)	#219
Mon, Jul 27th	vs ARI	Merrill Kelly (8-8)	#126
Tue, Jul 28th	vs ARI	Brandon Pfaadt (5-1)	#70	vs KC	Seth Lugo (4-6)	#131
Wed, Jul 29th	vs ARI	Eduardo Rodriguez (10-3)	#127	vs KC	Randy Dobnak (1-0)	#431
Thu, Jul 30th	@ CIN	Rhett Lowder (3-7)	#287	vs KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#94
Fri, Jul 31st	@ CIN	Hunter Greene (2-2)	#26	@ SEA	Bryce Miller (4-5)	#39
Sat, Aug 1st	@ CIN	Andrew Abbott (5-6)	#108	@ SEA	Logan Gilbert (8-6)	#10
Sun, Aug 2nd	@ CIN	Chase Burns (12-1)	#27	@ SEA	George Kirby (8-9)	#22
Mon, Aug 3rd	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-6)	#141
Tue, Aug 4th	@ MIL	Logan Henderson (5-1)	#41	@ KC	Randy Dobnak (1-0)	#431
Wed, Aug 5th	@ MIL	Shane Drohan (5-4)	#75	@ KC	Noah Cameron (5-8)	#94
Thu, Aug 6th	@ MIL			@ KC	Michael Wacha (5-7)	#78
Fri, Aug 7th	vs NYM	Freddy Peralta (5-9)	#38	@ MIL	Brandon Sproat (3-6)	#141
Sat, Aug 8th	vs NYM	Clay Holmes (4-4)	#116	@ MIL
Sun, Aug 9th	vs NYM			@ MIL
Tue, Aug 11th	@ MIA			vs BAL
Wed, Aug 12th	@ MIA			vs BAL
Thu, Aug 13th	@ MIA			vs PHI
Fri, Aug 14th	vs BOS
Sat, Aug 15th	vs BOS			vs PHI
Sun, Aug 16th	vs BOS			vs PHI
Mon, Aug 17th	vs DET			vs ATL
Tue, Aug 18th	vs DET			vs ATL
Wed, Aug 19th	vs DET			vs ATL
Fri, Aug 21st	@ LAD			@ SD
Sat, Aug 22nd	@ LAD			@ SD
Sun, Aug 23rd	@ LAD			@ SD
Mon, Aug 24th	@ SD			@ ATH
Tue, Aug 25th	@ SD			@ ATH
Wed, Aug 26th	@ SD			@ ATH
Fri, Aug 28th	@ STL			vs CWS
Sat, Aug 29th	@ STL			vs CWS
Sun, Aug 30th	@ STL			vs CWS
Tue, Sep 1st	vs SF			vs DET
Wed, Sep 2nd	vs SF			vs DET
Thu, Sep 3rd	vs SF
Fri, Sep 4th	vs LAA			@ CWS
Sat, Sep 5th	vs LAA			@ CWS
Sun, Sep 6th	vs LAA			@ CWS
Tue, Sep 8th	@ CWS			@ DET
Wed, Sep 9th	@ CWS			@ DET
Thu, Sep 10th	@ CWS
Fri, Sep 11th	@ CHC			vs CLE
Sat, Sep 12th	@ CHC			vs CLE
Sun, Sep 13th	@ CHC			vs CLE
Tue, Sep 15th	vs MIL			vs NYY
Wed, Sep 16th	vs MIL			vs NYY
Thu, Sep 17th	vs MIL			@ LAA
Fri, Sep 18th	vs KC			@ LAA
Sat, Sep 19th	vs KC			@ LAA
Sun, Sep 20th	vs KC			@ LAA
Tue, Sep 22nd	vs STL			@ SF
Wed, Sep 23rd	vs STL			@ SF
Thu, Sep 24th	vs STL
Fri, Sep 25th	@ DET			vs TEX
Sat, Sep 26th	@ DET			vs TEX
Sun, Sep 27th	@ DET			vs TEX
Thu, Apr 2nd				@ KC	Cole Ragans (1-4)
Thu, Apr 9th				vs DET	Jack Flaherty (3-8)	#99
Mon, May 18th				vs HOU	Tatsuya Imai (6-4)	#151
Mon, Jun 1st				vs CWS	David Sandlin (2-1)	#311
Thu, Jun 18th				@ TEX	Jack Leiter (3-7)	#123
Mon, Jun 22nd				vs LAD	Will Klein (3-4)	#208
Fri, Jul 10th				vs LAA	Grayson Rodriguez (3-3)	#122
Fri, Jul 17th				@ CHC	Colin Rea (8-7)	#176
Tue, Jul 21st				@ CLE	Parker Messick (8-6)	#45
Thu, Jul 23rd				@ CLE	Gavin Williams (10-6)	#21
Mon, Aug 10th				vs BAL
Mon, Aug 31st				vs DET
Mon, Sep 7th				@ DET
Mon, Sep 14th				vs NYY
Mon, Sep 21st				@ SF

Who Should I Trade?

Esmerlyn Valdez for Walker Jenkins (2026)

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