Pirates Get Great News on Infielder's Injury
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates may have one of their infielders back for their series finale vs. the Cleveland Guardians at PNC Park.
The Pirates trailed 3-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning and first baseman Enmanuel Valdez came up, facing Guardians All-Star closer in right-handed pitcher Emmanuel Clase.
Valdez took a pitch off of Clase and hit it deep to center field, giving him extra bases. He tried his luck and went around second base, aiming for a triple.
He slid head first into third base and got in safely, but injured his left shoulder. This caused him to take his right hand off the third base bag and Guardians All-Star third baseman José Ramírez tagged him.
Third base umpire Chris Conroy would call Valdez out, despite initially calling him safe, and even after review from the crew, the call stood.
Unbelievable. The pain literally doesn't end.
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) April 19, 2025
Enmanuel Valdez is called out at 3rd after being tagged while asking for time while injured.
Hang in there, Pirates Twitter. pic.twitter.com/L8qCIRHMw4
Valdez appeared to ask for time with the injury, but Conroy didn't see it and/or didn't choose to call it, allowing Ramírez to tag him for the out.
you can't make this up. pic.twitter.com/k37RdlcuCp
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) April 19, 2025
Pirates general manager said on his 93.7 The Fan radio show that Valdez suffered a 'relatively minor' shoulder injury and that he could play in the series finale vs. the Guardians if needed, according to Alex Stumpf of MLB.com.
Ben Cherington says on his 93.7 The Fan radio show that Enmanuel Valdez's shoulder injury is "relatively minor" and he could potentially appear in Sunday's game if necessary.
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) April 20, 2025
Valdez has appeared in 16 games for the Pirates prior to this game, slashing .239/.340/.457 for an OPS of .796, with 11 hits, three doubles, two triples, one home run and nine RBIs, plus seven walks to 10 strikeouts.
He almost hit a two-run home run in the first inning of last game, but hit it just foul of the right field pole, as the Pirates would lose 3-0.
Valdez hails from San Juan de la Maguana in the Dominican Republic. The Houston Astros signed him as an international free agent on July 2, 2015, and they put him on their Dominican Summer League team.
He spent all his time with the Astros in the minor leagues, making it to Double-A and then Triple-A in 2022.
The Astros traded Valdez along with outfielder Wilyer Abreu to the Boston Red Sox for catcher Christian Vázquez on Aug. 1, 2022.
Valdez spent the rest of 2022 with Triple-A Worcester and the Red Sox placed him on the 40-man roster, protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft.
The Red Sox called Valdez up on April 19, 2023 and he recorded two hits in his MLB debut vs. the Minnesota Twins.
Valdez played in 49 games for the Red Sox in 2023, slashing .266/.311/.453 for an OPS of .764, with 37 hits, eight doubles, six home runs, 19 RBIs, eight walks and five stolen bases.
He then appeared in 76 games for Boston in 2024, as he slashed .214/.270/.363 for an OPS of .633, with 43 hits, 12 doubles, six home runs, 28 RBIs and 17 walks.
The Red Sox traded Valdez to the Pirates on Dec. 15 in exchange for right-handed pitcher Joey Vogatsky.
The Pirates called Valdez up to the MLB From Triple-A Indianapolis on March 28, following an injury to second baseman Nick Gonzales.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.