36 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

28 in September... 

Has had 231 games, 402 career ML ab's. 
Has played 43 games at 2nd, 38 at SS, 36 at 3rd, 21 at 1st, 5 in LF. 

 

2019 MLB: 79 ab's, .190 / .256 / .316

2018 AAA: 350 ab's, .320 / .364 / .589

[BSLChrisStoner]

GW hit last night in the 11th.  Versatile. Been having good ab's as well. 

[Ruzious]

Grats to him; he's done better than expected - granted in a small sample size.  Nobody expects him to be more than a utility infielder, but he's doing his best to make the case that he's deserving of continued playing time.  If it comes down to him or Rio Ruiz being in the lineup when everyone's healthy, he's likely going to win that - with Hanser moving to 3B - though that could change.   

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Fan of the bat as a uti guy. Not out of the realm of possibility he could hit well enough to be a starting caliber 2b or 3b

[BSLChrisStoner]

Balt Baseball.com: Pat Valaika was Orioles’ most pleasant surprise in 2020
https://www.baltimor...e-orioles-2020/

[BobPhelan]

Balt Baseball.com: Pat Valaika was Orioles’ most pleasant surprise in 2020
https://www.baltimor...e-orioles-2020/

Far from it but he was a good addition for the role he was in.

[Mike B]

Valaika IMO, started 15 too many games at SS, but he is a valuable utility guy with a good bat.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Vote Valaika for starting 2b in '21

[BSLRoseKatz]

Have him spend the entire offseason practicing fielding at SS and there might be something legit there

[Mike B]

Have him spend the entire offseason practicing fielding at SS and there might be something legit there

I don’t think he can improve enough to be good there.  IMO, his value is his bat and versatility,

[BSLRoseKatz]

I don't think he'd be good, but there was a lot of room to improve where he could at least reduce his errors 

[russsnyder]

I don't think he's a MLB caliber shortstop. He was exposed because of the injuries to Iglesias. I doubt he gets much better defensively at this point in his career. Still an excellent utility guy with some pop.

[BSLChrisStoner]

His value is in the versatility. That he's useable in multiple spots and as a bonus has some pop.

[Nigel Tufnel]

 Joe Trezza@JoeTrezz·2m

 

The Orioles today optioned Pat Valaika to their alternate training site, without announcing a corresponding move. Valaika was 1-for-9 at the plate to start the year.

[BobPhelan]

Welcome back DJ Stewart

[BSLRoseKatz]

Scoreless inning on just five pitches! 

[Mike B]

Scoreless inning on just five pitches! 

Our pitchers give up 11 runs, 14 hits and 5 walks in 8 innings, an infielder gets 3 outs on 5 pitches.

He must have a good spin rate.  

Baseball is indeed a strange game.

[Nigel Tufnel]

DFA.

[Mike B]

DFA.

That surprises me some.....Jones???

[Mike B]

Nope not Jones.

Jon Meoli

@JonMeoli

The Orioles announced they claimed IF/OF Jorge Mateo off waivers from the San Diego Padres and designated Pat Valaika for assignment. Mateo, 26, is a former top-100 prospect with the Yankees.