Jesús Valdez (minors04)

Jesús Alexander Valdez Mejia
(Cacao)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 170 lb.

• Born November 2, 1984 in San Cristobal, San Cristobal D.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Jesús Valdez won two batting titles in a year.

Valdez was signed by Chicago Cubs scouts Jose Serra and Marino Encarnacion. hit .320/364/.423 for the 2003 AZL Cubs but fielded only .904 in the outfield. After missing 2004 after right elbow surgeryy, he hit .244/.272/.372 for the 2005 Boise Hawks. His 38 RBI tied Jeff Baisley and Jeff Flaig for 10th in the Northwest League. He improved his outfield fielding to .976. With the 2006 Peoria Chiefs, he batted .302/.340/.384. He was 6th in the Midwest League in average (between Cameron Maybin and Bryan Anderson). He was 1 for 6 in winter ball for the Leones del Escogido. He hit .250/.300/.326 in 83 games, with 9 assists to only 2 errors for the Daytona Cubs in 2007 then was released by Chicago.

Signing with the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings, he was 0 for 6 for the remainder of 2007. The Washington Nationals signed him for 2008 and he rebounded with the Vermont Lake Monsters (.341/.418/.447 in 23 G) and the Hagerstown Suns (.287/.307/.426 in 28 G). He hit .297/.341/.446 in 89 games for the 2009 Potomac Nationals and had a brief rehab stint with the GCL Nationals (.286/.375/.929, 3 HR in 5 G). Had he qualified (and he was very close), he would have been third in the Carolina League in average, behind Robbie Widlansky and Clint Robinson.

In 2010, Valdez's batting line was .273/.317/.398 for the Harrisburg Senators. He rapped 31 doubles, 5th-most in the Nats chain, and has 12 assists to two errors. He hit .273/.273/.386 for Escogido that winter. He made it to AAA in 2011 with the Syracuse Chiefs (.271/.318/.397 in 102 G) and also played 31 games for Harrisburg (.261/.305/.387). He also split 2012 between the Senators (.294/.326/.431 in 72 G) and Chiefs (.263/.304/.429 in 48 G). He did not play in the US or Dominican Republic in 2013-2014, spending the winter in the Colombian League.

He returned to ther minors in 2015 with the Mexican League's Leones de Yucatan, hitting .363/.407/.551 with 17 homers and 98 RBI. He led the league in average (.002 over Jesus Castillo), was 6th in slugging (between Castillo and José Julio Ruíz), ranked 6th in OPS (between Félix Pérez and Danny Richar) and placed third in RBI (behind Japhet Amador and Jorge Cantu). He kept on rolling in winter ball with the Charros de Jalisco, at .347/.368/.495 with 36 runs in 57 games. He won his second batting title in a year, edging Amadeo Zazueta by .012. He was also 8th in runs, tied Quincy Latimore for 3rd in hits (77), tied Saul Soto and Amador for 7th in doubles (14), was 10th in OBP (between Jeremias Pineda and Chris Roberson), placed 4th in slugging (between Yuniesky Betancourt and Latimore) and was 5th in OPS (between Esteban Quiroz and Latimore). He was only the 4th player to lead both the Mexican League and Mexican Pacific League in average in a year, following the legendary Héctor Espino (1964, 1967, 1972), Jimmie Collins (1983) and Carlos Rivera (2007)

Playing for the Colombian national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in March 2016, he hit cleanup and was the DH. He went 5 for 11 with two walks, three runs and a RBI. In the Panama pool, he was third in average (after Jesus Golindano and Frederic Hanvi), second in OBP (behind Golindano), tied for first in hits and tied for second in runs (behind Reymaldo Rodriguez). Colombia won the pool to get a spot in the World Baseball Classic for the first time.

He returned to Yucatan for the summer of 2016.

Sources

• 2012 Nationals Media Guide
• World Baseball Classic
• La Jornada Maya