Jesus Valles

JESUS VALLES, RIGHT HANDED PITCHER
Born: December 15, 1997
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 178
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Signed: Int’l Free Agent, 2018, Pittsburgh Pirates
How Acquired: International Free Agent
Country: Venezuela
Agent: N/A

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

The Pirates signed Valles during spring training during spring training at age 20.  He doesn’t have great stuff but does have very good command.  His fastball gets into the low-90s.  He has a good change and also throws a curve.

2018
DSL: 3-0-0, 3.86 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 51.1 IP, 1.4 BB/9, 7.0 K/9

Valles pitched as a starter until late July, when he moved to relief.  He pitched a lot better as a starter, possibly due to the workload.  He had a 3.10 ERA as a starter and 6.75 as a reliever.  Valles was much more effective against left-handed hitters, holding them to a .597 OPS, than right-handed hitters, who had a .755 figure.

2019
A-:  3-2-0, 3.55 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 66.0 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 4.9 K/9

The Pirates jumped Valles up three levels to West Virginia and put him in the rotation.  He got good results after struggling in his first few starts, but with an extremely low K rate and some gopher ball issues (he allowed eight).  He was tough on right-handed hitters, holding them to an OPS of .613, but left-handed hitters batted 306/358/510 against him.

Valles came a long ways very quickly, but the big question is how well his stuff will play as he moves up.

CONTRACT INFORMATION
2020: Minor League Contract
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: N/A
MiLB Debut: 2018
MLB Debut: N/A
MiLB FA Eligible: 2024
MLB FA Eligible: N/A
Rule 5 Eligible: 2021
Added to 40-Man: N/A
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
March 9, 2018: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an international free agent.