Edison Valerio

Edison Damian Valerio Abreu

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.

• School Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo
• High School Colegio Yajaimari

• Born August 20, 1994 in Santo Domingo D.R.

BR register page

Biographical Information

Edison Valerio has played in Spain's Division de Honor (winning four home run titles through 2022) and for the Spanish national team, once leading the European Championship in OPS.

The Dominican native debuted in Spain's top league in 2014 with CB Sant Boi, hitting .267/?/.333 and fielding .953. He improved to a .278 average and .380 slugging in '15 while fielding .963. He turned 19 double plays, tying Yancarlo Franco for 2nd in the league. In 2016, he slumped to .223/.333/.309 at the plate, fielding .949 and ranking third with 86 assists. The next year, he moved to CB Barcelona and made big strides, batting .312/.496/.452 with 33 walks and 26 runs in 28 games; he fielded .955. He was third in the league in OBP (behind Michel Rodríguez and Blake Ochoa), 2nd in walks (5 behind Ochoa), first in assists (97).

He switched clubs again in 2018, joining the Astros Valencia. He hit .294/.435/.529 with 5 runs and 6 RBI (but 3 errors) in 5 games when they won the 2018 Federations Cup. In the regular season, he had a .341/.488/.715 batting line, showing much better pop (12 HR), drawing 32 walks, scoring 47 times and driving in 44 in 32 games. He fielded .945. He was 4th in the Division de Honor in runs, tied Kreisber Auciello for 4th in RBI, tied Auciello for the home run lead, tied Auciello for 6th in total bases (88) and tied Eduardo Moredo for 3rd in walks, but did not make the top 10 in slugging in a hitter-friendly season.

In the 2019 CEB Cup, he was 5 for 15 with two doubles, a homer (for Valencia's lone run off Radim Chroust in a 2-1 loss), 3 walks, 3 runs and 3 RBI in 4 games. In the Division de Honor that year, he produced at a .413/.530/.798 clip with 23 walks, 11 homers, 43 runs and 37 RBI in 27 games. He fielded .969. He was 8th in average, 5th in slugging, 4th in OBP, tied Rodríguez for the run lead, tied for 9th in hits, was 7th in RBI, tied Rodríguez and Richard Montiel for the home run lead, was 6th in total bases, ranked 8th in walks, was 3rd in assists (76) and tied Javier Monzón for 3rd in double plays (21).

The 25-year-old debuted for Spain in the 2019 European Championship. He was 0 for 5 with two walks and two runs, backing up Oscar Angulo at 2B and Leomartires Rodriguez at 3B. His first at-bat for Spain was a ground-out against Belgium's Yannick Gontier. Spain won the Bronze Medal. They qualified for the 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier, in which he saw a little more time. He did well, going 2 for 7 with a double, homer (both extra-base hits coming off Jan Novák), walk, hit-by-pitch, 3 runs and 2 RBI. He tied Angulo and Lesther Galván for the team lead in runs but Spain's bid for the 2020 Olympics fell short.

In 2020, he hit .364/.482/.636 with 22 RBI in 17 games for the champion Astros, fielding .974. He tied for 10th in hits (24), was 5th in RBI, tied for 8th in doubles (6), tied for 8th in walks (15) and was 4th in assists (55). In the 2021 CEB Cup, he batted .421/.542/.684 with 7 runs in 5 games, homering off Filip Čapka of the champion Draci Brno club. He tied for 4th in the high-offense event in runs, tied for 9th in hits (8), tied Roibert Decena and Siarhei Sokal for 8th in total bases (13), tied for 9th in walks (4) and was 8th in OPS (between Mathis Meurant and Přemek Chroust). In Spain that summer, he produced at a .429/.548/.987 clip with 12 dingers, 32 runs and 36 RBI in 22 games for Valencia, fielding .971. He made leaderboards in average (8th), slugging (2nd, .235 behind Jesús Ustariz), OBP (6th), runs (tied for 3rd with Galván and Franco), hits (tied for 8th), RBI (2nd, 6 behind Ustariz), homers (tied Ustariz for first), total bases (76, 2nd, 23 behind Ustariz), walks (tied for 6th) and assists (65, 4th). In the 2021 European Championship, he had three hits against Ukraine, four hits against Germany, four RBI versus Croatia, three hits against Belgium (including a long ball against Artuur Driessens), four runs in a near-upset 9-8 loss against the champion Dutch national team (taking Mike Bolsenbroek deep) and 1 for 3 with a walk in a Bronze Medal Game loss to Italy for an impressive .682/.731/1.136 batting line with 12 runs and 11 RBI in six games, fielding .938 at short. He was among the event's leaders in numerous categories. He led in hits (15, 3 ahead of runner-up Angulo), total bases (25, 2 ahead of Matěj Hejma), average (.156 ahead of Vito Friscia), slugging (.083 ahead of Friscia), OBP (.098 ahead of MVP Roger Bernadina) and OPS (184 ahead of Friscia). He was also second in runs (one behind Bernadina), tied for fifth in homers and tied Friscia and Ferdinand Obed for 4th in RBI.

Valerio helped Valencia win the 2022 Federation Cup, hitting .292/.308/.458 with seven runs and four doubles in five games. He tied for second in runs (one behind Decena) and led in two-baggers. He had another fine summer for the Astros. He hit .358/.500/.726 with 33 runs, 10 homers and 31 RBI, fielding .971. He was 7th in Spain in runs, tied Wander Encarnacion for the home run lead for his 4th homer title, 5th in RBI, 3rd in total bases (trailing Encarnacion and Decena), 3rd in slugging (after Encarnacion and Yan Pérez), 6th in OBP, 3rd in OPS (after Encarnacion and Yan Pérez), 3rd in walks (24), tied for 4th in times plunked (7),tied for 9th in swipes (8) and 1st in assists (94). He suited up for Spain in the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, their only position player without experience in the US pro ranks. He certainly didn't miss a beat, homering twice and driving in six against the Czechs, going deep off Daniel Padyšák and Čapka (the latter being a grand slam). He hit .308/.471/.846 with eight RBI in four games but Spain's bid for the 2023 World Baseball Classic fell short. He tied for 7th in the qualifiers in runs (4), tied for second in homers (one behind Harry Ford), tied for first in RBI (with Ustariz, Ford and Noelvi Marte), tied for 8th in walks (3), was 10th in OBP (for those with 10+ AB), ranked 5th in slugging for those with 10+ AB and had the 7th-best OPS for those with 10+ AB, between Vojtěch Menšík and Anfernee Seymour.