One of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ top position player prospects is with the team for the start of their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, though he isn’t yet on the 26-man roster.

Catcher/first baseman Rafael Flores has been placed on the Pirates’ taxi squad, which could potentially signify an injury to a player on the club’s roster.

Flores hasn’t yet appeared in a big-league game this year and instead has remained in Triple-A Indianapolis, though it’s possible he’ll have a chance to make an impact for the Pirates in the near future.

Flores’ Background

Flores signed with the New York Yankees as an undrafted free agent in July 2022 for a signing bonus of $75,000.

He posted an .874 OPS with 21 home runs between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre during the 2024 campaign, putting him on the map as a legit prospect.

Flores was later used as the centerpiece of the trade deadline deal that saw the Pirates send All-Star closer David Bednar to the Yankees last year.

He slashed .281/.363/.459 with six home runs over 36 games for Indianapolis after arriving in the deal and made his major league debut for Pittsburgh on September 17, 2025.

Across seven contests and 17 plate appearances to close out the season, Flores logged a .627 OPS with a pair of doubles for the Pirates.

The 25-year-old has struggled quite heavily in Triple-A so far this year, however, owning a .207/.320/.344 slash line with four home runs and 27 RBIs in 53 games and 188 at-bats.

Flores was recently ranked as the No. 15 prospect in Pittsburgh’s farm system by FanGraphs.

“Flores has uncommon power for a catcher, and while aspects of his swing path (it’s long) and his tendency to chase make him likely to strike out a ton against big league pitching, if he can get to power in games anyway, he’ll do enough to be a valuable bat-first backup,” Eric Longenhagen wrote. “He’s best when he can get extended against pitches up and away from him, which he’s a threat to deposit from pole to pole. There are all kinds of late-bloomer traits here (Flores’ size, late arrival to catching this often, and small school background), and it’s possible that Flores will have a peak year or two where he hits 15-plus bombs as a part-time cacher and 1B/DH, just as there will probably also be years where he hits .180 and can’t control the run game.”

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