After first coming over to the Boston Red Sox in August of 2022, Enmanuel Valdez got plenty of chances to succeed in the organization, but he never quite capitalized on the opportunities when he received them.
Valdez came to Boston from the Houston Astros (along with Wilyer Abreu) in exchange for Christian Vazquez at that year's trade deadline. Heading into 2023, he ranked as the Red Sox No. 18 prospect per MLB Pipeline. He didn't surface at the big league level for them until the next season, though, and when he did, he looked like a player they could lean on moving forward.
Through his first 49 games in the big leagues, Valdez hit six home runs with 19 RBI and a .764 OPS. His 103 OPS+ put him three percent above league-average, which was more than enough from a player that was viewed as a secondary add-in next to Abreu at the time of the trade.
After posting -0.6 bWAR in 2024, the Red Sox were comfortable moving on from Valdez. He was simply squeezed off of a roster by other players who were clearly more deserving of a roster spot. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in December of 2024 and has just recently surfaced with them at the big league level.
Former Red Sox prospect Enmanuel Valdez immediately surfaces with Pirates
Now calling Pittsburgh home, Valdez didn't take very long to crack the Pirates' roster. He wasn't able to secure a spot on the Opening Day roster, but he got a call-up after Nick Gonzales was placed on the injured list. Gonzales broke his left ankle while rounding the bases after hitting a home run.
Since his debut on the Pirates, Valdez has done largely the same thing he did on last year's Red Sox team: nothing. Through three games, the utilityman is hitless through six at-bats with a pair of strikeouts and a walk.
While he hasn't performed all that well dating back to 2023, Valdez has shown off some impressive power numbers throughout his minor league career (28 home runs, 107 RBI in 2022) and is capable of playing all over the diamond. Positional versatility has never been more valuable than it is in today's game, so his ability to play all over the infield and in the outfield corners is going to keep him getting jobs as his career marches on. Now it's time for him to find some of that offensive potential and capitalize on it at the big league level.