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- A. Civale CLE
- 2-2, 5.59 ERA, 1.14 WHIP
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- M. Bumgarner ARI
- 2-0, 2.84 ERA, 1.26 WHIP
Top George Valera News
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Guardians' George Valera: Sent down to Triple-A camp
Valera (wrist) was optioned Sunday to Triple-A Columbus by the Guardians, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.
Valera has been bothered by a wrist injury, but he wasn't a real candidate to make the Opening Day roster regardless of health. The 22-year-old is widely considered one of the better hitting prospects in the Cleveland system, however, so there's a very good chance that he will make his MLB debut before the close of the 2023 season.
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Guardians' George Valera: Doing bat-handling exercises
Valera (wrist) is doing light bat-handling exercises, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.
Valera had hamate bone surgery on his right wrist over the offseason and then had to be removed from a game last month with discomfort in the same wrist. There's no timetable for his return.
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Guardians' George Valera: Could require MRI
Guardians manager Terry Francona said Wednesday that Valera (wrist) could undergo imaging in the coming days, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
As Francona notes, Valera's injured right wrist is on the same hand that required surgery for a broken hamate bone earlier in the offseason. Valera left Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Royals after fouling a baseball off the wrist area, and it's possible the discomfort he was experiencing was related to the surgery. Cleveland will keep a close eye on the outfield prospect over the next few days before deciding his next steps. If healthy, Valera has a chance to receive playing time in the Guardians outfield at some point in 2023.
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Guardians' George Valera: Exits with wrist discomfort
Valera had to leave Tuesday's game against the Royals with right wrist discomfort, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.
Valera fouled a ball off during a second-inning plate appearance before dropping the bat and immediately grabbing his wrist area in pain. The outfield prospect had surgery on the same hand over the offseason for a broken hamate bone, so this isn't a good sign. It's not clear at this point how long this might set Valera back.
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Guardians' George Valera: Recovered from offseason surgery
Valera is starting in center field and batting eighth in Sunday's spring training game against the Rangers.
He underwent surgery for a broken hamate bone in his right hand this offseason but was fully healed for the start of spring training. Valera went 0-for-2 in Saturday's spring game. He is on the 40-man roster but will likely get optioned to minor-league camp before the end of spring training.
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Guardians' George Valera: Recovering from hand surgery
Valera recently underwent surgery for a broken hamate bone in his right hand, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The expectation is that Valera will still be in recovery mode when Guardians camp gets underway in Arizona next month. This type of surgery usually requires around two full months of rest and rehab. One of the top position-player prospects in Cleveland's system, Valera slashed .250/.353/.463 with 24 home runs and 82 RBI in 132 games last season between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. If his health cooperates, he could make his MLB debut at some point in 2023.
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Guardians' George Valera: Mixed results after promotion
Valera slashed .221/.324/.448 with nine homers and a 22:45 BB:K across 42 games following his promotion to Triple-A Columbus.
Valera's full-season numbers look better, as he put together a .250/.353/.463 slash line with 24 homers in 132 games, but his fairly high strikeout rate and inability to hit for average in the minors offer some cause for concern. However, he did get bitten by the BABIP bug in Triple-A, so it's reasonable to consider that .221 batting average an outlier. It's also worth remembering that this was his age-21 campaign, so merely reaching that level is impressive. Nonetheless, while Valera's power carries his profile, he hasn't posted a slugging percentage north of .500 since High-A. He remains a valuable prospect, but it wouldn't be surprising if it were to take him a few years to develop into a productive big leaguer.
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Guardians' George Valera: Elevated to Triple-A
The Guardians promoted Valera from Double-A Akron to Triple-A Columbus on Monday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
Cleveland recently bumped up two of its top position prospects (Tyler Freeman and Will Benson) from Triple-A to the majors, so Valera will move up a level to help Columbus fill one of the vacancies in its everyday lineup. The 22-year-old lefty-hitting outfielder supplied a .264/.367/.470 slash line to go with 15 home runs and two stolen bases in 387 plate appearances for Akron this season.
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Guardians' George Valera: Appears in Futures Game
Valera represented the American League in the Futures Game on Saturday, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a groundout.
On the bright side, the overall picture is far rosier for Valera now than it was earlier in the season, as he's posted a sharp .302/.374/.564 batting line with 11 home runs and 43 RBI across his last 45 games. It took Valera a while to settle in at Double-A, but he's finally starting to deliver the stats we expect from a prospect of his caliber. His overall line (.272/.373/.484) is excellent for a 21-year-old in Double-A, considering that he's three years younger than the average player at that level.
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Guardians' George Valera: Not hitting much in Double-A
Valera is batting just .229/.372/.352 with two homers and a 23:33 BB:K through 31 games for Double-A Akron this year.
It's nice that he's drawing walks at a healthy 18 percent clip, but that's about the only positive to be found in Valera's batting line. He hasn't homered since April 19, he hasn't put together a hitting streak longer than three games, and he hasn't collected a single stolen base. It could be that Cleveland was simply too aggressive in moving him up to Double-A last year, as he didn't do a whole lot then either (.747 OPS in 23 games). At just 21, he's still one of the younger players at that level. There's still a lot to like about Valera, but this first month-plus has done a lot to kill any notion that he might be on the fast track to the big leagues.
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Guardians' George Valera: Optioned to minors
Valera was optioned to minor-league camp Sunday.
Valera was added to the Guardians' 40-man roster in November and spent the early portion of spring training with the big-league club. The 21-year-old had a .978 OPS last season at High-A Lake County to earn a late-season promotion, and he hit .267/.340/.407 in 23 games for Double-A Arkansas, where he's likely to open 2022.
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Guardians' George Valera: Rewarded with 40-man roster spot
Valera was added to Cleveland's 40-man roster Friday.
Cleveland's second-best prospect and best outfield prospect, Valera was a lock to be protected from the Rule 5 draft. He combines plus power with a very selective approach and has a chance to be a middle-of-the-oder masher in a couple years.
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Indians' George Valera: Promoted to Double-A
Valera was promoted to Double-A Akron on Monday.
He got off to a slow start this year with High-A Lake County and then landed on the injured list with an oblique injury. However, since returning June 8, Valera hit .259/.440/.575 with 16 home runs, seven steals and a 50:50 K:BB in 55 games. He clearly needed a challenge, and this could set the stage for him to also get sent to the Arizona Fall League after the season.
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Indians' George Valera: Returns from injured list
Valera (oblique) was activated off the minor-league injured list Tuesday at High-A Lake County.
Valera got into just seven games this season before suffering a right oblique strain. He struggled to a .182/.296/.273 line in those games, but that's far too small of a sample to draw much of a conclusion from. He did at least manage to steal three bases.
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Player Bio
| HT/WT: 5-10, 160 lbs |
| Birthplace: Queens, NY |
| Age: 22 |
| Experience: R |
| Bats/Throws: L, L |