The Pittsburgh Pirates have debuted Konnor Griffin early in the 2026 season. His call-up has been one of the most hyped debuts in the Pirates’ history. However, the Pirates’ farm system is still packed with talent. After all, they went into 2026 with one of the best farm systems in baseball, and their most talented minor league affiliate is their Triple-A team, the Indianapolis Indians. With so much season left, we are bound to see another notable debut in the near future, so who should we expect to see next up?
Esmerlyn Valdez
Esmerlyn Valdez is off to a scorching hot start at Indianapolis. In 47 plate appearances, the top outfield prospect already has nine hits. Of those nine knocks, two have left the park, and two resulted in doubles. Valdez has struggled with strikeouts in the past, but that hasn’t been the case this year. He has gone down on strike three just a half-dozen times with a whiff rate of 26.1%. Valdez has also drawn twice as many walks compared to K’s. All of this comes after a phenomenal 2025 season.
Last year, Valdez batted .286/.376/.520 with 26 home runs over 529 plate appearances split between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona. Valdez walked at a solid 10.6% rate and struck out 24.6% of the time. His K% has steadily declined, as he struck out over 30% of the time at A-Ball Bradenton in 2024. Overall, Valdez owned a .412 wOBA and 155 wRC+ last season.
Valdez is still young, as this is his age-22 season. Last year, he was the 19th youngest position player to appear in 50+ games. The Pirates also added Valdez to their 40-man roster last winter. He was Rule 5 draft eligible, so the Pirates opted to protect him from the draft. That only makes his Major League ETA even closer. The Pirates can’t keep him down for long if he continues to hit.
Jhostynxon Garcia
Jhostynxon Garcia was one of the many notable acquisitions the Pirates made during the offseason. They acquired the top outfield prospect from the Boston Red Sox, alongside pitching prospect Jesus Travieso, for pitcher Johan Oviedo, along with prospects Tyler Samaniego and Adonys Guzman. The Pirates sent Garcia to Triple-A to start 2026. While he has made some slick defensive plays, The Password only has five hits over his first 42 plate appearances. Only one of his hits went for extra bases, as he hit a double. He has also struck out 11 times with a pair of walks.
Although Garcia isn’t off to a hot start at the plate this year, he put up quality numbers between Double-A and Triple-A last year. Garcia slashed .267/.340/.470 with 21 home runs over 489 plate appearances. 2025 was also his second straight 20+ home run campaign. Garcia drew a free pass at an 8.9% rate and struck out over a quarter of the time with a 26.8% K%. His bottom line consisted of an .810 OPS, .360 wOBA, and 116 wRC+.
Garcia has already made his MLB debut. The young outfielder appeared in parts of five contests with the Red Sox last year and stepped to the plate on nine occasions. Garcia is still only 23. While his slow start is slightly discouraging, it is still very early in 2026. He is another young outfield prospect on the Pirates' 40-man roster, currently stashed at Triple-A.
Brandan Bidois
Brandan Bidois is the Pirates’ best relief pitching prospect. He flashed a ton of potential during this past Spring Training. Ultimately, the Bucs optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis before the end of the pre-season. Bidois has already pitched five innings out of the bullpen this year. In that time, he has allowed three earned runs, struck out six, and walked six. However, Bidois became the Pirates’ best relief prospect after an astounding 2025 campaign.
Last year, Bidois tallied 61 innings, pitching to the tune of a 0.74 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, and 2.44 FIP. The Australian right-hander owned a 30% K%, and walked 11.7% of opponents. Impressively, Bidois did not allow a single home run all season. Bidois ended 2025 on an insane scoreless streak, allowing no runs through his final 21.1 innings of the year. In that time, he allowed just a single hit, struck out 25, and allowed nine free passes.
Bidois has some of the most impressive stuff among Pirates pitchers. He sits mid-to-upper-90s with his four-seam fastball, and throws the pitch with upwards of 20 inches of induced vertical break. He’ll also throw a low-90s change-up and an upper-80s slider. If the Pirates need another reliever, one with the upside of a late-inning/high-leverage arm, Bidois will be the first name they call upon. Like Valdez, the Pirates also added Bidois to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
