George Valera is back for the Guardians and he looks a little different.
He is now number 7 instead of 35 as Trainiax is expert at reporting on Twitter!
Ok, end of article.
Just kiddin’! I am not just talking about jerseys, nor am I addressing physical appearance here. Gorgeous Georgous is still Gorgeous Georgus. No, it’s what Valera has shown us so far this young season in his contact
ability. In Columbus, Valera ran a 90% zone-contact rate and an 82.9% contact rate, overall. For his last three seasons, Valera averaged a contact rate in the upper 60’s and a zone contact in the low 80’s. Valera also lowered his swinging strike rate from around 12% to 8.5%.
Folks, if Valera has gained some confidence to make even slightly more consistent contact, things could get pretty exciting around here. Valera’s average exit velocity last season with the Guardians was 91.1 mph, which would be right behind Chase DeLauter’s 93 mph and Daniel Schneemann’s 91.3 mph on the current Guardians’ squad. Valera is also not afraid to take a walk (14.5% walk-rate with the big league tean in 2025) and maintains a chase rate in the low 20%’s. He also pulls a healthy amount of fly balls (40-45% fly ball rate and north of 50% in pull-rate), which should allow him to access a healthy amount of his raw power when he makes contact.
Sound good? Would thou likest to live deliciously and behold more of, say, THESE, perchance?
Valera is an exciting, young player when healthy, and let’s all hope he is back to normal in those terms. The most challenging aspect of his return will be figuring out where to play him, as Angel Martinez has a 164 wRC+, and Steven Kwan and DeLauter aren’t going anywhere. Aside from subbing for DeLauter during load management days and taking some LF reps from Angel against RHP, DeLauter may steal some RHP reps from Hoskins at DH. Kyle Manzardo has looked surprisingly improved at first base (still, not good, but stomachable), so this may be a chance to allow Rhys Hoskins to be a lefty-masher and bench weapon.
He is also an excellent Post-game interview:
I am very excited to see Valera again. He was running an 11.1% barrel rate in Spring Training and let me tell you… if he can transfer any increases in any of these metrics to the major leagues, we are going to be begging to see him as often as Stephen Vogt will allow.
Welcome back, George!
