Fantasy baseball free agent pickups: Pick up some potent Pirates, pronto

Difficult as it might be to believe, the Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the game’s most productive offenses. Yes, we’re talking about the team that finished dead last in runs per game just one year ago — a team that has four of baseball’s 13 worst single-season runs per game rates across the past six seasons.

Remarkably, the 2026 Pirates currently find themselves placed second in the category (5.33), a ranking the likes of which they haven’t seen since 2000, that being a Brian Giles/Jason Kendall-led squad. The Pirates have astonishingly averaged more runs per game this year than the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While hitters like Oneil Cruz, Spencer Horwitz and Konnor Griffin have played significant parts in the Pirates’ success, injuries have kept the trio on the sidelines for 73% of the team’s games in June and July. And yet, there are the little ol’ Pirates, atop the MLB runs per game rankings during those two months (5.80).

Credit a good share of that to a pair of unexpectedly productive performers, both of which begin the week available in a majority of ESPN leagues. (Hint hint: It’s time to correct that if they’re out there in yours!)

Esmerlyn Valdez, OF, Pirates (42.2% rostered): A big-time power source — his 27.4% Statcast Barrel rate would be MLB’s best if he had the requisite number of plate appearances — Valdez has long been questioned by scouts due to the holes in his swing. Thanks in large part to the adjustments he has made to shorten that up, as well as what has been a disciplined approach thus far (an 81st percentile chase rate, again, if he qualified), Valdez has, since his most recent recall on June 11, scored 92 fantasy points, 17th-best among hitters. Bear in mind, too, that he has started only 22 of the Pirates’ 32 games during that time.

Valdez’s 10 homers during that time span are sixth-best, but to demonstrate his likelihood of streakiness over the coming weeks, he has the fourth-worst swing-and-miss rate on pitches in the strike zone among hitters with at least 100 trips to the plate. There will probably be weeks where he shouldn’t be in your lineup. Nevertheless, the sum of the parts is a universally relevant outfielder.

Nick Gonzales, 2B/3B, Pirates (17.7%): One of baseball’s most sneaky-good fantasy-relevant hitters, Gonzales’ 204 fantasy points scored thus far rank 16th among 3B-eligibles and 17th among second basemen. Plus, he’s the No. 8 third baseman and No. 13 at second base on the Player Rater. And yet, he’s garnering practically zero fantasy attention. Heck, for a personal example to demonstrate that none of us saw it coming, I’ve been offered him in trades in my local NL-only league three times already this season, and declined each without much thought.

Gonzales, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2020 Draft, might not be the superstar scouts initially predicted, but today he’s a line drive-hitting, consistent-contact hitter who buoys the back of a points-league lineup and stabilizes a rotisserie team’s batting average. The adjustments he has made this season, flattening his swing and adapting his point of contact to maintain balance throughout it, have added a good 20-25 points to his expected batting average, meaning he has a realistic shot at a .300 final actual number. That would put him in the conversation for a batting title!

Two-start pickup

Payton Tolle, SP, Boston Red Sox (51.9% rostered)

Ranger Suarez’s imminent return from the IL initially cast the Red Sox’s second-half rotation order into some doubt, but as Suarez now appears ticketed for Tuesday activation and aligned to slide into the team’s open spot, Tolle aligns for an unexpectedly favorable pair of Week 16 matchups. The left-hander has scored in excess of 20 fantasy points in two of his past four outings, totaling 52 points across those four games.

Next, he’ll face the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays at home. That’s significant, in that Tolle has a higher strikeout rate at home (30.2%) than on the road (20.4%), while the Orioles and Blue Jays rank 23rd (.303) and 29th (.285) against left-handers in terms of wOBA this season.

Deeper-league pickups

Deep (12-team mixed): Zach Thornton, SP, New York Mets (3.9% rostered): An emergency rotation fill-in for the Mets’ injury-ravaged rotation on three occasions already, Thornton’s excellence in his most-recent appearance (22 fantasy points, on July 12) has granted him a lengthier leash at the game’s most competitive level.

Though his minor league numbers this year weren’t eye-popping — a 4.02 ERA and a 24.2% strikeout rate in 13 starts (and one relief appearance) combined between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Syracuse — his good control and cutter/four-seamer/sweeper-led repertoire have thus far done a good job of keeping hitters off-balance and generating chase swings. Thornton is best used as a streamer, but, for now, he should be added in leagues this deep.

Deeper (15-team mixed): Kyle Leahy, RP/SP, St. Louis Cardinals (12.6% rostered): He’s also better utilized as a streaming candidate, but Leahy’s first MLB season as a starting pitcher has progressed more smoothly than expected. He scored double-digit fantasy points in each of his final four starts of the season’s first half, and he has been especially productive at Busch Stadium, with a 2.94 ERA in his 10 starts there. Leahy lacks an elite, dominating pitch, but he has a six-pitch repertoire that’s diverse enough to fluster weaker lineups.

Deepest (AL- and NL-only leagues): Tommy White, 3B, Athletics (2.8% rostered): He has one of the game’s cooler nicknames — “Tommy Tanks” — even if it’s a bit of a misnomer relative to the power-hitting player he was during his college days. Today, White is more of a line-drive, disciplined batsman, best indicated by his .303 batting average and .353 OBP combined between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas this season. I know, I know! This space seems like it has been reserved for any ol’ Athletics infield prospect promoted for a short-term look, but such are the ways with “only” league pickups. White’s skill set makes him worth a flier.