Pirates

Curve players Valdez, Griffin, Bidois claim organization awards

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates handed out some Minor League organization awards on Wednesday, and there was a definite Altoona Curve flavor to them this year.

Esmerlyn Valdez, Konnor Griffin and Brandan Bidois won the Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski and Kent Tekulve awards, respectively for 2025.

Valdez won the Stargell honor, given to the top slugger in the minors. The 21-year-old hit a combined .286 with 25 doubles, two triples, 26 home runs and 86 RBIs, a .376 on-base percentage and a .520 slugging percentage. He split time between High-A Greensboro and the Curve. His 26 homers were the most among all Pirate minor leaguers.

He won the South Atlantic League's Most Valuable Player, despite getting promoted to Altoona on July 1.

Griffin won the Mazeroski honor, given to the top defender in the organization. He made just seven errors in 757 innings at shortstop across three levels of play in his first professional season for the Pirates. He also started in center field 15 times, and in 129 innings of play for the Curve, he did not make an error.

Griffin is ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline.

Bidois' Tekulve award is for the top relief pitcher in the minors. The 24-year-old finished with an 8-0 record and seven saves, splitting time at all three levels in the Pirates' system. He had an ERA of 0.74 in 61 innings of work with 69 strikeouts, a .110 batting average against and an 0.80 WHIP. From July 29 to Sept. 9, he faced 64 batters and did not give up a hit.

In six seasons in the Pirates' system, he is 11-5 with 17 saves and a 2.02 ERA with 161 strikeouts in 120 innings of work.