Red Sox second baseman Enmanuel Valdez singles in first MLB at-bat
The 24-year-old went 2-4 in his major league debut against the Twins.
Hitting ninth in the lineup Wednesday night, freshly called up Enmanuel Valdez gave Red Sox fans something to cheer for in the team’s 10-4 home loss to the Twins.
Valdez, a 24-year-old play-everywhere prospect, was picked for the major league roster after the team placed Yu Chang on the Paternity List.
While the lefty hitter has struggled in the minors this season, hitting .180 in 45 plate appearances, he did not disappoint at the plate in his MLB debut.
In his first at-bat in the third inning, he ripped a grounder to the opposite field at 106 mph, and it shot past a diving Jose Miranda for a single.
In the fifth, he got up again and once again hit a hard single to the left side of the field to give himself a perfect start to his career at the plate.
Throughout the rest of his debut though, Valdez proved that he was human. In the seventh, he struck out on four pitches, and then when he got up with two men on in the bottom of the ninth, he hit a soft liner to Miranda that was caught.
On the fielding side, Valdez got four chances at second, making outs on two of them but missing a pop-up hit behind him in the fifth for an error.
Prior to making his debut for the Red Sox, Valdez earned experience at all spots on the field except for center field, but nothing stuck full time.
As a prospect, it was always his bat skills that impressed while his arm graded as a 45 and his glove a 40.
Most of his time in the minors has been spent at either second or third, where he has made a combined 410 starts across seven seasons and made 59 errors. In the outfield, he’s made just one error in his 24 minor league games there.
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