When the Pittsburgh Pirates conducted their sale at last year’s trade deadline, their collection of new assets was boosted by a relatively unknown catcher by the name of Rafael Flores Jr.

Flores, 24 at the time of the trade, had played just 10 games for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees when he was sent to the Pirates. ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the baseball insider of all baseball insiders, described Flores as a batter who “tore up” Double-A, and as someone who is a “top-shelf framer and regarded as a big league-ready catcher.”

It was all very exciting language, but vibes weren’t necessarily sky-high after the eighth-ranked prospect in the Yankees’ system was the headliner for Pittsburgh’s closer, David Bednar. Not only was Bednar recovering from an awful start to the season (one that saw him optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis) and therefore traded on the cheap, his departure marked another year where the Pirates were out of the playoff race by summer and forced to abandon hopes until the following spring.

Unfortunately for Flores, he sort of became the face of an unpopular trade in another punted year of Pirates baseball. And although he did not arrive in New York alone, his fellow acquisitions in Edgleen Perez and Brian Sanchez were 19 and 20, respectively, at the time. If the Bednar trade was to provide any meaningful impact to the roster in the Paul Skenes window, it was up to Flores.

After using the ensuing weeks to acclimate himself at the Triple-A level in Indianapolis, Flores did get his first taste of major-league action at the end of the year. The Pirates brought him up for a seven-game run in September, where he notched his first three MLB hits in as many games before ending the year in a minor cold spell.

Coming into this season, Flores had competition for time behind the plate. Aside from the returning Henry Davis, 2021’s first overall pick, and veteran Joey Bart, Flores also had to contend with Endy Rodríguez, who was coming off missing nearly all of 2025.

UItimately, the Pirates went with the two more experienced guys to open the year, kicking Rodríguez and Flores down to Triple-A to jockey for position on the catching (and first baseman) depth chart.

That Triple-A matchup was initially won by Rodríguez. After Bart went down with injury, Rodríguez was recalled and brought his big-league bat to Pittsburgh. In Bart’s absence, Rodríguez slashed .267/.413/.467 (.880 OPS) with three home runs and eight RBI. It was a strong enough performance for the Pirates to eventually deal Bart to Atlanta and roll with a Rodríguez/Davis tandem behind the dish.

But, the one issue that has plagued Rodríguez during his playing career cropped up again a few weeks ago. Injury took the switch hitter out of the lineup, and in a weird twist of irony, opened the door for Flores.

Much like Rodríguez, Flores had a real opportunity to get starting reps at catcher to aid the poor bat of Davis. And as of late, he’s taking full advantage of them.

Flores is on an absolute tear right now. Season-wide (including very brief stints in June and July), Flores is slashing .313/.411/.729 (1.140 OPS) through 19 games and 56 plate appearances. In his last seven games, however, Flores is 10-for-23 with five home runs and 10 RBI.

He recorded his first multi-homer game last week in Miami, during Pittsburgh’s 13-1 blowout of the Marlins to salvage the third game in a series loss. Even though that second homer came off a position player pitching, that six-RBI game started to put Flores’ name on the map.

He followed that up with a three-hit game, including another homer in a closer 8-4 win against Boston. Since then, he has hits in four of the last five games, which is capped off with a historic performance off the bench to help spark a comeback win over Detroit to win the series.

Flores dialed up a pinch-hit solo shot in the seventh inning before delivering a second one in the ninth to tie the game for the Pirates. Unfortunately for him, his second two-homer game is now overshadowed by the Brandon Lowe walk-off winner, but this was another statement game for Flores.

Flores is far from a perfect or polished catcher. His defensive work is not at the level of Davis, and Flores has thrown out just one base runner this season out of 12 attempts for a 7.7% (well below the 23.6% league average). But, his batting prowess keeps giving the Pirates ample reason to keep playing him.

Even if the defensive work is still subpar, he would still be a welcome addition to the club if he can keep up his bat.

As the bullpen has imploded for much of the year, and only received reinforcements arguably far too late in the year, the Bednar trade has looked worse and worse. The Pittsburgh kid has a 2.40 ERA, 0.994 WHIP, and 3.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio with 29 saves for the Yankees, while Pittsburgh’s replacement for him in Dennis Santana has since been designated for assignment and no longer with the team.

But, if Flores can pan out into something here, that trade doesn’t look as bad. Catcher is still a major position of need for this team, and a catcher who can produce offensively is of particular desire for Pittsburgh.

Flores is the biggest defense this trade has from criticism that, so far, is very valid.