- Valdez may be 24 years-old pitching in LoA, but he’s only on his third season within the Diamondbacks system. The left-hander was signed as an International free agent in 2016, as a 21 year-old, and was assigned to the DSL Diamondbacks. In 13 DSL appearances with 9 starts, the now 6′ 3″ 180 lb Dominican posted a 1.73 ERA and 86 strikeouts with only 5 walks in 67.2 innings. A stateside assignment was sure to follow in 2017, but Valdez missed the whole season. Valdez then had to begin the development process all over in 2018, where he saw action over 5 different levels, but none over LoA Kane County. The results were about the same from 2016; 5-1, 3.16 ERA, 62.2 IP, 1 BB, 59 K, 1.069 WHIP. Last night was his second start of the season, and Valdez has only surrendered one-hit and zero walks over nine innings, and nice return after combining on a no-hitter last week.
TOP AL UTR PITCHING PERFORMANCE
RHP Nate Pearson (HiA Dunedin – Toronto) 22 years old 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, 0.95 ERA, Win 3-0- After 3 starts at Dunedin, Pearson is well on his way to proving a promotion to Double-A is forthcoming. The 6′ 6″ 245 lb first round pick (2017) is mowing down Florida State League hitters with 14.2 K9 rate (30 K’s over 19 IP) and a 0.579 WHIP. This is Pearson’s second top UTR mention this season.
LoA Mentions – Starters RHP Caleb Sampen (LoA Bowling Green – Tampa Bay) 22 years old 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 5.12 ERA, Win 2-1 RHP Blaine Knight (LoA Delmarva – Baltimore) 22 years old 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 0.87 ERA, Win 2-0 RHP Daniel Bies (LoA Charleston – New York Yankees) 23 years old 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 5.71 ERA, Win 1-1 RHP Colton Eastman (LoA Lakewood – Philadelphia) 22 years old 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 6.00 ERA, Win 1-2 LHP Konnor Pilkington (LoA Kannapolis – Chicago White Sox) 21 years old 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 2.01 ERA RHP Brett Conine (LoA Quad Cities – Houston) 22 years old 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 3.00 ERA
HiA Mentions – Starters RHP Dylan File (HiA Carolina – Milwaukee) 22 years old 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 4.09 ERA, Win 1-3 RHP Enoli Paredes (HiA Fayetteville – Houston) 23 years old 5.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 1.17 ERA, Win 1-0 RHP Riley O’Brien (HiA Charlotte – Tampa Bay) 24 years old 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1.93 ERA
National League – Relief RHP Jose Quezada (LoA Fort Wayne – San Diego) 23 years old 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER,0 BB, 4 K, 2.89 ERA, Win 3-0 American League – Relief RHP Jacob Billingsley (HiA Fayetteville – Houston) 24 years old 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA
Under The Radar Minors 