BRISTOL, VA – The Pirates have been building up their shortstop depth in the last few drafts. They took Cole Tucker in the first round in 2014, and Kevin Newman in the first round in 2015. They took Stephen Alemais in the third round this year, adding a strong defensive option behind the two recent first round picks. But before all of those guys joined the system, they made Adrian Valerio their biggest signing of the 2013 international signing period, giving the shortstop a $400,000 bonus.
Since he was signed, Valerio has received high reviews for his defensive abilities. Those have carried over to the US, and he’s currently showing off the defense in Bristol in his second year since moving up from the DSL. Bristol coach Kelson Brown has a unique experience with Valerio this year. Brown started the year as a player, and was on the same team as Valerio at the beginning of Spring Training, playing right beside him. He then became a coach, and is now Valerio’s infield instructor, giving him a view as a player, and a view as a coach.
“He is such an amazing talent, and such an amazing competitor,” Brown said. “More so than you see a lot. Letting him be him is the most important thing, and staying on him to be true to himself. He’s a guy who is totally unfazed by pressure situations. He’s always wanting the baseball. Total confidence out there. He’s just been doing a great job so far this year.”
Valerio has all of the skills needed to stick at shortstop. He doesn’t have the best arm, and he’s not the fastest player, but he’s a smooth defender who shows good awareness and takes good routes to the ball, getting the job done. However, the 19-year-old can be inconsistent at times with his defense.
“At times he can take things for granted,” Bristol Manager Kory DeHaan said. “Because he is pretty good, and his footwork will become just a little bit not as good as it should be. Sometimes, even his funneling, the proper funneling mechanics he can be lazy with at times. It’s just a quick reminder, and he’s right back in to it.”
Brown and Valerio have been working on the funneling, but he’s careful not to make big changes to Valerio’s overall game.
“He actually has incredible baseball instincts, so you don’t want to touch those too much,” Brown said. “The biggest thing we had for him was working on the funnel, which is just catching the ball and bringing it to your center for balance. He had the tendency to bring it to the side and fumble the ball a little too much. We’ve done a good job cleaning that up in his game, and he’s taking it upon himself to really put in the time.”
Valerio said that he likes the new approach, and while it’s different than what he did in the Dominican Republic, he’s embracing it.
“It helps me out a lot, because when I’m trying to make a play, I’m in better position, instead of when I’m by my side, it’s a lot more difficult,” Valerio said thought an interpreter. “When I’m practicing now, it’s helping me a lot more to make plays.”
The defense overall is ahead of the offense. Valerio shows the ability to barrel the ball and line pitches to the gaps in batting practice. He’ll show that in games as well. But he has been largely inconsistent, and a lot of that stems from struggles with breaking pitches. This has led to a .584 OPS on the season.
“We’re working on it constantly of him slowing down the game at the plate,” DeHaan said of the hitting approach. “We’re trying to get him locked in on staying with his plans, staying in his zone, not trying to go get the ball rather than letting the ball come to him.”
Valerio said that he has a mindset that nothing is going to get past him, and he’s going to get the ball, which can sometimes lead to problems.
“I’m always looking to make that play,” Valerio said of his offense. “When there’s someone on first, I’m looking to bunt to get them to second, depending on what they want me to do. But I’m not going to lie, there are times when I do want to swing at that ball as hard as I can to try and knock it out of here.”
That’s something the Pirates want to avoid. They’re fine with Valerio being a singles hitter with some occasional gap power, as long as the defense plays. This is something that DeHaan stresses to Valerio.
“Defense is your game,” DeHaan said of the message he sends. “Base hits. Bunts. We’re not looking for home runs out of you. We don’t need this kind of extra hitting. Let’s stay committed to sticking with the plan, driving the ball away, then we can react and do other things once we get the reps underneath us.”
The Pirates have two offensive minded shortstops in Newman and Tucker, who rely on contact and some gap power, but largely go without home runs. Both shortstops have questions with their defense, to the point where they can field the position, but won’t be plus defenders. The hope is to make Valerio the same type of hitter, which would give him an edge because his defensive upside is much higher.
“His defense has been solid,” DeHaan said. “I like how he’s not allowing the bat to bleed into the glove. Because at this level, the emotions are so crazy with guys, that if they don’t get something perfect, [they’ll take it to the field]. He’s doing a good job of separating the glove and the bat.”
Valerio was the first shortstop added to the system, but because he was added at such a young age, he’s behind the other three guys. He’s also the most raw of the group, with good defensive skills that are inconsistent with age, and raw offensive potential that isn’t nearly consistent enough for games. That pretty much makes him the shortstop equivalent of a projectable prep pitcher just taken out of the draft. He’s got a lot of upside, but still has a lot of work to do to develop his overall game. Fortunately, with so many other shortstop options ahead of him, the Pirates can take their time with Valerio’s development.
