Former Los Angeles Dodgers catching prospect Jefferson Valladares retired to change into a coach for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the Washington Nationals’ Class-A affiliate.
Valladares performed 5 seasons within the minors, the primary 4 of which got here with the Dodgers.
Who’s Jefferson Valladares?
The catcher started his journey via the minor leagues with the Dodgers, who signed him out of Venezuela in 2019. Valladares was one of some Venezuelan catching prospects within the Dodgers’ system alongside Diego Cartaya and Keibert Ruiz.
Each Cartaya and Ruiz ultimately left the Dodgers through commerce, however Valladares remained with the Dodgers and trudged his method via L.A.’s farm system. The catcher didn’t make knowledgeable look inside the Dodgers system till 2021, when he made his debut within the Dominican Summer season League. He had an .826 OPS via 22 video games that season, and had a .935 OPS via 45 video games the next season.
Extra information: Former Dodgers Catcher Austin Barnes Indicators With Mets on Minor League Deal
After his success within the DSL, Valladares got here stateside to play within the Arizona Complicated League in 2023. By his first season within the ACL, Valladares had a .874 OPS with three homers and 10 RBIs.
He started the 2024 season within the Complicated League as soon as once more, however rose to Class-A Rancho Cucamonga halfway via the season. He had respectable numbers on the new degree, posting a .753 OPS via 15 video games with a .271/.357/.396 slash line.
Valladares relocated after 2024, with the Minnesota Twins choosing him up within the minor league section of the Rule 5 Draft. He started the 12 months in Class-A, although his numbers weren’t fairly the place he would have preferred. He had a .570 OPS via 53 video games, however nonetheless managed a promotion to Excessive-A inside the Twins group.
Extra information: Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw Near Signing NBC Deal: Report
The catcher carried out significantly better in Excessive-A, slashing .258/.347/.409 via 22 video games performed. With the season over, although, the 23-year-old is clearly content material together with his baseball profession and is able to transfer on to managing the sport.
Valladares will function a coach beneath Blue Rocks supervisor Ted Tom For the upcoming season as they give the impression of being to claw themselves out of final place within the South Atlantic League North.
