Enmanuel Valdez

Enmanuel Valdez
Valdez with the Red Sox in 2024
Pittsburgh Pirates – No. 48
Infielder
Born: (1998-12-28) December 28, 1998 (age 26)
San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 19, 2023, for the Boston Red Sox
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.235
Home runs12
Runs batted in47
Teams

Enmanuel Valdez (born December 28, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox, with whom he made his MLB debut with in 2023.

Career

Houston Astros

Valdez signed with the Houston Astros as an international free agent on July 2, 2015.[1] He made his professional debut in 2016 with the Dominican Summer League Astros.[2] He played 2017 with the Gulf Coast Astros and Greeneville Astros, 2018 with the Tri-City ValleyCats, and 2019 with the Quad Cities River Bandits and Fayetteville Woodpeckers.[2]

Valdez did not play in 2020 due to cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] He returned in 2021 to play for the Asheville Tourists and Corpus Christi Hooks.[2] He started 2022 in Double-A with Corpus Christi.[4] and was later promoted to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys of Triple-A.[2]

Boston Red Sox

Valdez with the Red Sox in 2024

On August 1, 2022, Valdez and Wilyer Abreu were traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Christian Vázquez.[5] Valdez finished the season with the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox.[2]

On November 10, 2022, the Red Sox added Valdez to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.[6] During the offseason, he played in the Dominican Winter League for Toros del Este.[2] He was optioned to Worcester to begin the 2023 season.[7]

On April 19, 2023, Valdez was promoted to the major leagues for the first time after Yu Chang was placed on the paternity list.[8] Valdez made his MLB debut that evening, against the Minnesota Twins, and recorded two hits.[9] He was optioned back to Worcester the next day,[10] then recalled on April 25 when Chang went on the injured list due to a hand injury.[11] Valdez remained with the Red Sox until being optioned back to Worcester on June 9.[12] He was recalled to Boston on September 1, when major-league rosters expanded to 28 players, optioned back on September 12, and recalled again on September 22.[13]

Valdez made 76 appearances for Boston in 2024, slashing .214/.270/.363 with six home runs and 28 RBI. On December 11, 2024, Valdez was designated for assignment by the Red Sox.[14]

Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 15, 2024, Valdez was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Joe Vogatsky.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ "Hooks Baseball: The American Dream". April 9, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Enmanuel Valdez Minor & Winter Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  3. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  4. ^ "Hooks' Enmanuel Valdez providing spark in first complete season with Corpus Christi".
  5. ^ "Astros add backstop depth in deal for Vázquez". MLB.com.
  6. ^ "Versatile No. 3 prospect highlights Sox's 40-man adds". MLB.com.
  7. ^ "Red Sox's Enmanuel Valdez: Optioned to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  8. ^ "Red Sox's Enmanuel Valdez: Gets big-league call-up". cbssports.com. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  9. ^ "Twins vs. Red Sox". ESPN.com. April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  10. ^ Campbell, Brendan (April 20, 2023). "Red Sox reinstate Yu Chang from paternity list, option Enmanuel Valdez to Triple-A Worcester". bloggingtheredsox.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  11. ^ "Red Sox's Yu Chang could miss 6 weeks with fracture in hand". ESPN.com. April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  12. ^ Starr, Gabrielle (June 9, 2023). "Red Sox notebook: Troubling Chris Sale update headlines slew of roster moves". Boston Herald. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  13. ^ "Red Sox Roster & Staff – Transactions". MLB.com. Boston Red Sox. September 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
  14. ^ "Red Sox Acquire Carlos Narvaez From Yankees". mlbtraderumors.com. December 11, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  15. ^ "Pirates acquire Enmanuel Valdez in trade with Red Sox". ESPN.com. December 15, 2024. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  16. ^ Stumpf, Alex (December 15, 2024). "Pirates acquire IF/OF Valdez from Red Sox". MLB.com. Retrieved December 16, 2024.