High-A Postseason All Star Team Includes Top Pirate Prospects

S. Samek

After having a good showing with three Single-A postseason all-stars, the awards keep coming. Three more Pittsburgh Pirates prospects were named to the All-Star team for High-A.

Esmerlyn Valdez and Konnor Griffin were both named to the All-Star team. Valdez was also named the league MVP in the South Atlantic League for his 303/.385/.592 line with 20 home runs in his 72 games spent in the league this season prior to being promoted to Double-A.

Griffin was named the league’s top MLB prospect after slashing 325/.432/.510 with 36 RBI and 33 stolen bases across 51 games before he was promoted to Double-A.

Blake Butler the manager of the Greensboro Grasshoppers was named the manager of the year. He led the team to an 88-43 regular season, which was the best overall record in the league. The Grasshoppers also clinched the second half title in the North division to earn a playoff spot.

Callan Moss was also named a High-A All-Star team member in the Midwest League. Moss was traded to the Pirates for Bailey Falter by Kansas City. After being acquired by Pittsburgh he hit .339 with six home runs and 19 RBI in 30 games for Greensboro. He was a South Atlantic League player of the week for the week of 8/10/25 as well as the South Atlantic League player of the month for August.

Easy to see why all of them are postseason All-Stars. They are all very deserving of the awards. I can’t wait to keep watching Griffin and Valdez lead Altoona in the Eastern League playoffs this season before Valdez heads off to the Arizona Fall League. With enough continued success we could see both of them in Pittsburgh very soon.