The Pittsburgh Pirates offense caught fire Tuesday night after a 12-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. One of the bigger storylines from that game is rookie Esmerlyn Valdez hitting his second home run of the season in just his fourth game played.
Valdez hit his first home run of his Major League career against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday night. The 22-year-old has now hit home runs in back to back games played since he did not play on Monday. He also has 5 RBIs so far on the season.
Valdez has 12 at bats so far in his Major League career with two hits, both of those hits are home runs. The rookie has found his power which is a great sign for the Bucs especially with the injury of Ryan O’’hearn.
The power has been great for Valdez but he has struggled with strike outs so far. In four games played he has struck out seven times including twice in Tuesday night’s games. There is also a concern about having no hits outside of those home runs. Consistency is important and although the power is great you want to see him get on base some more and get some more hits.
This is a very promising start for Valdez and for the players on the Buccos. With Konnor Griffin playing well too the future is very bright in Pittsburgh. Although he played really well in the Minors, Valdez was only called up because of the Ryan O’hearn injury but if he continues to play and hit well then there might be a spot on this team.
The Pirates have now won three games in a row including winning the first two games of a four-game series against the Cubs. That is massive news because the Bucs were just 3-10 vs Chicago last year, and they already have four wins this year. Pittsburgh has two more games in this series against the Cubs with Bubba Chandler and Paul Skenes set to pitch.
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