Luis Valbuena

Luis Valbuena
Valbuena with the Los Angeles Angels in 2017
Free agent
Infielder
Born: (1985-11-30) November 30, 1985
Sucre, Venezuela
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 2, 2008, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
(through July 25, 2018)
Batting average .226
Home runs 114
Runs batted in 367
Teams

Luis Adan Valbuena (born November 30, 1985) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder who is currently a free agent. He previously played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels. While primarily a third baseman, Valbuena has also played second base and first base.

Early life

Valbuena grew up in Sucre, a municipality in the Venezuelan state of Zulia. He was raised by a single mother named Nelly, who was the president of the local youth baseball league. Valbuena's older brother and several uncles also helped him learn to play baseball.[1]

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

Valbuena began his professional career in the Seattle Mariners organization in 2005. He was first promoted to the major leagues on September 1, 2008, from the Mariners' Triple-A team, the Tacoma Rainiers.[2]

Cleveland Indians

On December 10, 2008, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in a three-team trade that sent Franklin Gutiérrez to Seattle.[3]

Valbuena's first Major League home run came off of Bartolo Colón.

Valbuena in 2011

In July 2011, the Indians optioned Valbuena to Triple-A Columbus, to make room for the promotion of rookie second baseman Jason Kipnis.[4] In August 2011, Valbuena was recalled after Kipnis was put on the disabled list with an oblique injury. He was designated for assignment and removed from the 40-man roster on November 18. On November 26, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations.

Chicago Cubs

On April 4, 2012, Valbuena was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs after being optioned by the Blue Jays. He was outrighted to the minors on April 7. Valbuena was called up from the Triple-A Iowa Cubs on June 14.

Valbuena played 108 games for Chicago in 2013, hitting .218 with 12 home runs and 37 runs batted in (RBI). The next year, Valbuena's batting average increased to .249 over 149 games and he had 16 home runs and 51 RBI.[5] By June 2014, Fangraphs noted that Valbuena was hitting fastballs well in the lower, outer portions of the strike zone, which had been a weakness for him in previous years.[6]

Houston Astros

On January 19, 2015, the Cubs traded Valbuena and Dan Straily to the Houston Astros for Dexter Fowler.[7] At the time of the trade, Valbuena was projected as the Astros starting third baseman for 2015.[8] Valbuena's average dropped to .224 in 2015, but he set a career-high with 25 home runs.[9] With Jed Lowrie coming off the disabled list and Carlos Correa taking over the primary shortstop position, Valbuena was forced to share some of the first base duties along with Chris Carter and utility player Marwin González in order to get some playing time.

At the beginning of the 2016 season, Valbuena was the starting third baseman for the Astros. He began to split playing time between first and third base. With the call-up of Astros prospect Alex Bregman, Valbuena saw more playing time at first base.[10]

Los Angeles Angels

On January 24, 2017, Valbuena signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels.[11] Valbuena split time during the season between third base and first base. He ended the season hitting a career low .199 with 22 home runs and a career high 65 RBI's.

Valbuena was designated for assignment by the Angels on August 5, 2018.[12] He hit .199 for the second straight season, finishing with 9 home runs and 33 RBI's. He was released on August 7, 2018.

See also

References

  1. ↑ De Jesus Ortiz, Jose (March 15, 2015). "Astros newcomer Valbuena accustomed to adapting". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ Jim Street (September 1, 2008). "Mariners' roster swells". Retrieved September 2, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Indians, Mariners, Mets complete trade". mlb.com. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Tribe calls up touted prospect Jason Kipnis". mlb.com. July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  5. ↑ Luis Valbuena Statistics and History. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Luis Valbuena is suddenly a line-drive machine". Fangraphs. June 17, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ Baer, Bill (January 19, 2015). "Cubs acquire Dexter Fowler in a trade with the Astros". NBC Sports.
  8. ↑ Dexter Fowler trade: Meet Luis Valbuena, the Astros' newest infielder. Crawfish Boxes. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  9. ↑ http://www.ocregister.com/articles/0px-741664-text-margin.html
  10. ↑ Young, Matt (2016-07-25). "Astros' Alex Bregman to debut at third base - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  11. ↑ Kramer, Daniel (January 24, 2017). "Angels finalize 2-year deal with Valbuena". MLB.com. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  12. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/la-sp-angels-valbuena-20180805-story.html
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.