{"id":253730,"date":"2026-07-28T13:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/253730\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T13:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:59:08","slug":"esmerlyn-valdez-injured-in-pirates-diamondbacks-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/253730\/","title":{"rendered":"Esmerlyn Valdez injured in Pirates-Diamondbacks game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pirates rookie outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez leaves game with hand injury<\/p>\n

PITTSBURGH (AP) \u2014<\/p>\n

Pirates rookie outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez was removed from Pittsburgh\u2019s 3-2 win against Arizona<\/a> on Monday night after being hit in the left hand by a pitch.<\/p>\n

Valdez, who has 14 homers in limited playing time this season, took a 92 mph fastball from Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly that smacked into the area around his left wrist.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Valdez, who entered Monday with 24 RBIs in July, winced in pain while being tended to by medical staff. He walked slowly toward the Pittsburgh dugout and was replaced by Jared Triolo.<\/p>\n

Looking for more news in your area | Subscribe to the WTAE YouTube Channel<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA – JULY 27: Esmerlyn Valdez #55 of the Pittsburgh Pirates reacts, while being examined by training staff, after being hit by a pitch during the fourth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park on July 27, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Pirates manager Don Kelly had no immediate update on Valdez’s status following the game. Valdez was in the clubhouse afterward but was not made available to reporters. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s an uncertain time for him,\u201d Pittsburgh second baseman Brandon Lowe said. \u201cWe\u2019re praying that he gets the best news possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valdez’s emergence<\/a> has helped the Pirates stay in playoff contention despite injuries to outfielder Oneil Cruz<\/a>, shortstop Konnor Griffin<\/a> and first baseman Spencer Horwitz<\/a>. Valdez is one of six players since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920 to have at least 14 home runs and 36 RBIs in his first 37 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s been playing great in right field – it’s not just the home runs,\u201d Lowe said. \u201cHe’s taking really mature at-bats. He’s been fantastic for us.”<\/p>\n

Download the WTAE app<\/a> to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters<\/a> to get breaking news in your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pirates rookie outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez leaves game with hand injury PITTSBURGH (AP) \u2014 Pirates rookie outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[47567,108212,108211,14708,108207,9868,22419,23788,108209,108208,108206,73,75,74,10997,108210,23790,6986,108205,10254],"class_list":["post-253730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-cruz","tag-diamondbacks-right-hander-merrill-kelly","tag-emergenceha","tag-esmerlyn-valdez","tag-esmeryln-valdez","tag-good-news","tag-hand-injury","tag-home-run","tag-immediate-update","tag-limited-playing-time","tag-pirates-diamondback-game","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-playoff-contention","tag-rbi","tag-status","tag-valdez","tag-wtae"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}