The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have recalled infielder Breyvic Valera (pronounced BRAY-vic VAH-lair-ah) from Memphis (AAA) and that he will join the team for tonight’s game in Cincinnati. For Valera, it marks his second recall of the 2017 season and he becomes the 37th player on the team’s active roster.
Valera, 25, a non-drafted free agent (signed on May 13, 2010) from Montalban, Venezuela, played in 800 career minor league games over eight seasons before arriving in the Major Leagues. He made his Major League debut on Sept. 5 at San Diego in a start at 2nd base and collected his first Major League hit with a pinch-hit single on Sept. 7 against the Padres. He was optioned to Memphis on Sept. 11.
The switch-hitting infielder batted .314 with eight home runs, 41 RBI and 11 stolen bases and led the Redbirds in batting average, hits (133) and triples (6) during the 2017 season.
The 5-10, 184-pound Valera struck out just 34 times in his 424 at-bats this season, and led Memphis down the stretch in their record-breaking 91-win season by batting .346 with 5 HR’s & 18 RBI in 25 games in August – earning the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month award for the month of August.
Over his 800 career minor league games, Valera has a .303 batting average including a .359 on-base percentage. He has been named to three mid-season All-Star Games (New York-Penn League 2012, Midwest League 2013 & Florida State League 2014) and was recognized as the 2016 Venezuelan Winter League Most Valuable Player.
Valera wears uniform No. 41.
