MLB Player Profile: Danny Valencia
Minnesota Twins’ third baseman, Danny Valencia displayed a brilliant performance in preceding games as he hit a number of RBIs and homers during second half of regular season. He also positioned himself in top infielders throughout his MLB career. Born on
September 19, 1984, Valencia is a third baseman in Twins’ roster and stands 6ft 2in with weight of 220 lbs.
The 26-year-old Valencia has only one year of experience in his professional MLB career. During school level, Valencia showed his dynamic performance as he had satisfying batting average of .430 which rose up to .575 during 2003. Due to his amazing efforts
in college baseball, he managed himself to play as a key player in University of Miami.
Valencia joined some local leagues to play his debut game. He played in place of third baseman Ryan Braun. In 2004, Valencia performed extremely well with a batting average of .300 including 63 runs and became the most eminent player in his Regional line-up.
Valencia played most of his game in Alaska Baseball League to groom his confidence level high.
In 2005, Valencia played as a substitute for Braun in Milwaukee Brewers’ farm system. He delivered an amazing performance during that year and had slugging average of .475. Valencia had 124 RBIs and batted with an average of .312 in 122 games with the Hurricanes.
Then, he got a chance to play his 19th round of Minor Leagues with the Minnesota Twins in 2006.
Valencia started his Minor League career during 2006 and had four years of experience in it. He began with the Elizabethton Twins and maintained his previous batting average of .311 including 29 RBIs, eight home-runs and slugging average of .505 in 48 games.
Due to his promising average, he was moved to higher position in at-bats-per-home-run.
The weather of injuries happened with a continuous interval for Valencia as he experienced again some minor surgeries. Valencia got some awards in 2006 due to his classy performance in consecutive games. He also played some All-Star games during 2007 as
he joined Midwest League also. After having a tremendous batting average, he was then advanced to Fort Myers Miracle.
Valencia hit 66 RBIs and 17 home-runs including combined averages of .297/.354/.462 at Fort Myers. He got Florida State League “Player of the week” award during 2007. Valencia was re-assigned to Miracle again in 2008 and earned fame by hitting with an average
of .336 including five home-runs and 44 RBIs. Valencia showed his classy act in his fielding as well. He gave the Twins some unbelievable victories also by making stunning catches.
Valencia played regularly with different Minor Leagues as their veteran players suffered some injuries at that time. With his back-to-back rising batting average, he joined Triple-A Rochester Red Wings in 2009. November 20, 2009 was an unforgettable day
in his professional career as Valencia was listed in the 40-man roster of Twins.
Rantz said, “We're still trying to fill the third-base hole. Eventually ... we're all hoping that [Valencia will] be that guy.”
Valencia outclassed the pitchers through his non-stop hitting as he struck 14 home runs, 70 RBIs with a batting average of .285 to raise the potential of Red Wings. During 2010, he started his MLB season with the Twins and raised his on-base slugging average
to .448 and batting average to .311. Fortunately, he was then named into Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team.
Valencia’s career has been firm and a minor dip in form is usual. However, he should demonstrate himself to be a muscular player with a strong renaissance in this season to help the Twins to the World Series. It will be a great challenge for player to maintain
his batting average.
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