George Valera is finally healthy and rewarding Guardians' patience in him 

It all started to come together for George Valera at the end of last season. 

After a minor league career that featured a variety of starts and stops due to a series of injuries, the young outfielder earned a long-awaited MLB call-up last September before smashing a huge home run against the Tigers in the postseason. 

Although Valera finished last season with just 55 at-bats across the regular and postseason, he did enough in that time to have Guardians fans dreaming of what he could do across a full season. 

Those dreams have come true this season, as Valera’s been picked up where he left off last season for the Guardians since returning from a hamstring strain that robbed him of the first couple weeks of the season. 

While Valera’s .229/.250/.314 slashline isn’t incredibly impressive at face value, he’s picked up a hit in seven of the 11 games he’s played in and is tied for seventh on the team in RBI (six) despite playing in just 10 games. 

George Valera seems to be on the cusp of heating up for the Guardians

He got off his best swing of the season on Friday against future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer when he roped a two-run double to right field in the first inning of Cleveland’s eventual 8-6 win. 

While he came within inches of hitting his first home run of the season (it would have been a homer in five ballparks), it left his bat at just under 100 miles per hour, showcasing the kind of violent, short swing that helped him become the Guardians’ top prospect in 2022. 

One of the biggest positives for Valera this season has been his strong control of the strike zone, as evidenced by him posting an above-average whiff rate (17.5%) while striking out in just 16.7% of his at-bats. 

It’s clear he has a strong understanding of the strike zone; the biggest thing now will be for him to figure out a way to use that and his above-average exit velocity (90.2 average mph) to become more consistent. 

Valera’s clearly one of Stephen Vogt’s favorites, so he should continue to get plenty of opportunities in the outfield so long as he’s able to avoid the injury bug that’s plagued him throughout his career. 

One of the biggest things that’s helped him get more consistent playing time has been Steven Kwan’s shift to center, which opens up left field and allows for him and Chase DeLauter to play at the same time. 

Even if he’s never going to look like a Gold Glover out there, he’s a serviceable corner outfielder who provides more than enough power to put up with his defensive deficiencies. 

The Guardians have been in more track meets than usual this season thanks to the struggles from their pitching, so every bit of offense helps. One of the easiest ways they can continue to get that offense is by continuing to give Valera everyday at-bats. 

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