The Pittsburgh Pirates is a team that is filled with a bunch of young talent. Even though they most likely won’t make the playoffs this year the future looks incredibly bright. Here are three young players that will be the stars for Pittsburgh next season.
Konnor Griffin
The obvious pick here is Griffin, the Pirates drafted him 9th overall in the 2024 draft. In his first season in the majors Griffin has a .262 batting average with five homers and 27 RBIs. The 20 year old has missed a lot of the season due to injuries.
His offensive numbers aren’t mind blowing but he does a little bit of everything on the field. His baserunning and defense are both excellent which makes a truly dangerous and versatile player. Griffin is only 20 years old so he will grow and mature as a player as well, so the future at short stop is bright.
Esmerlyn Valdez
Esmerlyn Valdez has been a great source of power for the Bucco offense. He has 17 home runs and 47 RBIs on the season with 72 games played. The right fielder is just 22 years old, marking another big time player that is under the age of 25 for this team.
Valdez is already one of the better hitters on the team and the fact that he is just 22 years old and this was just his first season in the majors should be really exciting for all the fans.
I expect both Valdez and Griffin to be big time contributors to the offense lineup next season. They have both dealt with injuries throughout the year but if they are able to stay healthy for next season we could be looking at two players that will be considered stars on the team.
Rafael Flores Jr.
It has been a while since the Bucs have had true offensive power from behind the plate but Flores jr has brought that in only 40 game plates this year. The 25 year old has nine homers with 40 RBIs. He has split time from behind the plate with Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez.
I know that Rodriguez was playing pretty well before he suffered his season ending injury but I see a lot of potential in Flores jr. He brings power to the lineup and is a good defender behind the plate. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Pirates come into next
season with Rodrigues and Flores jr as their main two catchers, leaving Henry Davis behind.
If these three players continue to develop and grow we could be looking at the next big three Pittsburgh and could possibly see those young stars help the Pirates finally get into the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
