Baltimore Orioles: The odd and amazing story of Cesar Valdez

Baltimore Orioles reliever Cesar Valdez is finally finding success in the big leagues.

He made his debut all the way back in 2010 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but current Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Cesar Valdez hasn’t seen much major league action since then.

Valdez made nine appearances with the Diamondbacks in 2010, going 1-2 with a 7.65 ERA, a 1.95 WHIP, and walking nearly as many hitters (10) as he struck out (13) in 20 innings of work.

Not exactly a notable debut for the right-handed pitcher out of the Dominican Republic, but a major league debut nonetheless. He would be traded to Pittsburgh that offseason and become the “player to be named later” in a deal previously completed between Arizona and Pittsburgh for pitcher Zach Duke.

It would take another seven years and stints with multiple organizations before Valdez would find his way back to the major leagues. It wasn’t until his age-32 season in which Valdez saw MLB action with the Oakland A’s and Toronto Blue Jays, going 1-1 with a 7.63 ERA, a 1.69 WHIP, and 21 strikeouts in 30.2 total innings of work.

You would think that an almost 33-year-old pitcher with a career ERA around 8.00 and a seven year gap in between major league appearances would be done in the major leagues, but his story doesn’t end there.

Valdez had an up and down 2018 while playing professionally in Mexico and appearing with the Licey Tigers in the Dominican Winter League where Valdez has often spent his winters playing, but his 2019 campaign was pretty dominant.

Pitching for the Leones de Yucatan in Mexico, Valdez made 23 starts going 15-2 with a 2.26 ERA. He sat down 122 via the strikeout and walked just 17 hitters in 147.2 innings. It was one of his best seasons as a professional and it came at the age of 34.

Baltimore Orioles take notice of Valdez and his dominant 2019.

Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias has left no stone unturned in search of talent since coming to Baltimore, even signing Cesar Valdez to a minor league deal back in January to provide pitching depth ahead of spring training.

It turns out, Valdez has bee a very good find for Elias and the Orioles.

He has made just three outings, but Valdez has allowed no earned runs and four hits across seven innings. He’s also continued to pile up the strikeouts and limit walks, fanning nine and walking two with the Orioles.

How has he been able to finally find some success in the big leagues? By throwing pure filth. You can get a sense of his lethal changeup below.

His two shutout innings of relief on Friday night against the New York Yankees earned Valdez his first career save. He allowed one hit over his two frames and struck out three. It was an instrumental performance in ending a 19-game losing streak for the Orioles against New York.

His major league career is one of the oddest careers you will find, but it’s hard not to root for Valdez at this point, even if you aren’t a fan of the Baltimore Orioles.

After dealing away three pitchers at the deadline, there will be even more innings available for Orioles pitchers over the final three weeks of the regular season. Hopefully, a few more of those innings are given to Cesar Valdez.

If he can continue his hot stretch with the Baltimore Orioles, Valdez just might find himself on a major league roster again next season