Before Esmerlyn Valdez made noise in the Arizona Fall League by hitting eight home runs in his first nine games, he led all Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguers in homers this season.

So it was befitting that the Pirates named the 21-year-old outfielder/first baseman the organization’s Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year, as he hit 26 home runs across two minor league levels.

The Pirates also named Brandan Bidois the recipient of the Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year award and shortstop Konnor Griffin their Bill Mazeroski Defender of the Year, as announced Wednesday by director of coaching and player development Michael Chernow.

Valdez hit a combined .286/.376/.520 with 25 doubles, two triples, 26 home runs, 86 RBIs and 75 runs scored in 123 games split between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona this past season. The 26 homers ranked third in all of the minors among players 21 years or younger, trailing only Seattle’s Lazaro Montes (32) and the New York Mets’ Ryan Clifford (29).

Valdez was named the South Atlantic League’s Most Valuable Player despite being promoted to the Curve on July 1. He ranked first in the league in slugging (.592), second in both home runs (20) and extra-base hits (39), fourth in total bases (164) and 10th in RBIs (57).

Signed as undrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic, Valdez is ranked the Pirates’ No. 15 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 22 by Baseball America. He’s eligible for the Rule 5 Draft but is expected to be protected after leading the AFL in in home runs (eight), slugging (1.281), OPS (1.941), runs scored (16), extra-base hits (nine) and total bases (41), while also ranking tied for first in walks (16), second in both batting (.500) and OBP (.660) and third in RBIs (18).

The 24-year-old Bidois went a combined 8-0 with seven saves, a 0.74 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and a .110 batting average against in 40 appearances split between Low-A Bradenton, High-A Greensboro, Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis in 2025.

Most impressive is that Bidois compiled a streak of facing 64 consecutive batters without allowing a hit, which stretched from July 29 at Portland (with Altoona) to Sept. 9 against Iowa (with Indianapolis).

Like Valdez, Bidois was signed by the Pirates as an undrafted international free agent out of Brisbane, Australia. Since making his professional debut, Bidois has posted a record of 11-5 with 17 saves, a 2.02 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a .154 batting average against.

Griffin, on the other hand, was the Pirates’ first-round pick (No. 9 overall) in 2024 and emerged as baseball’s consensus top prospect this summer. He was named Baseball America’s minor league player of the year in 2025, largely because of his offensive exploits.

The 19-year-old also shined defensively, as he made seven errors in 757 innings at shortstop in 89 games across three levels in his first pro season. He also played 15 games in center field between Low-A Bradenton, High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona, where he did not commit an error in 129 innings (40 total chances).