During an otherwise kind of drab 5-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays Saturday night, the Orioles unveiled a 35-year-old right-hander pitching in the big leagues for the first time in over three years. A veteran throwing a huge assortment of off-speed pitches that fooled not only Blue Jays hitters but the Statcast system that tracks pitches and pitch speed.
When César Valdez came on with two on and none out to replace Alex Cobb in the fifth, he got three straight outs to strand the runners. He fanned two and most of his pitches that inning were listed as curveballs. Later they were correctly identified as changeups.
Valdez, pitching in the bigs for the first time since Aug. 4, 2017, threw 46 pitches in three scoreless innings in which he allowed one single and fanned five. Of the 46 pitches, 35 were changeups. Toronto batters swung at 17 of those changeups and whiffed nine times.
"That has happened to me before," Valdez said this morning through translator Ramón Alarcón during a Zoom interview. "A lot of times they are unable to identify my changeup. Sometimes they call it a slider. But yes, that was the case last night. Most of my pitches were changeups. It's my go-to pitch. The one that I am most comfortable with and the one that gets me out of the jam most of the time.
"I learned my changeup when I was with the Diamondbacks. One of the staff over there, Erik Sabel, taught me how to throw it, as well as my sinker. With that, I've been able to practice and refine it and continue to develop it. Right now I feel very confident and very comfortable with it."
Originally signed at age 20 in 2005 by Arizona, Valdez, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, made his major league debut with that club in 2010. He would not return to the majors until 2017, and not again after that until last night. In 20 career big league games with six starts before Saturday night, he went 2-3 with a 7.64 ERA.
His long road back included several years in the Mexican League. Last season, he was the Mexican League Pitcher of the Year. He went 15-2 with a 2.26 ERA. Over 147 2/3 innings, he walked just 17, fanned 122 and posted a 1.06 WHIP.
So making it back to the majors was huge for Valdez. Saturday was not just another night for him.
"It's been one of the best days of my life. It's been a long road after so many years of hard work, dedication and a lot of sweat and tears. It finally paid off. I never lost faith that I could make it again, and here I am today. So I'm very thankful for the opportunity.
"In 2015, unfortunately I lost my Dad, and he was one of the persons that always told me to keep trying. To never give up. You never know what can happen, keep on going. So, I really wanted to do it for him and for myself. To continue to keep trying, keep pushing. And despite that unfortunate circumstance, try to achieve something for me and my family."
The Orioles signed Valdez as a minor league free agent Jan 9. He was not even a non-roster invitee to spring training in Florida, but he got into five spring training games and kept impressing the brass. He threw five scoreless with nine strikeouts. When the 60-man player pool was announced, he was on it this time. He almost made the O's opening day roster last month.
After his big 2019 season, he had hoped to return to the majors. But he didn't hear from many clubs.
"The Orioles were among the very few teams that were interested in my services," he said. "I think they have provided me with such a great opportunity, and the only thing that I want to do is take advantage of it and try to pay them back. It's a great feeling and I'm very thankful to be here."
Quick trade take: The Orioles keep adding young talent to their farm system, even if we don't yet know some of their names. Today they traded lefty starter Tommy Milone to the Atlanta Braves for two players to be named later.
With the rule for this season that teams can only trade players currently on the 60-man player pools, clubs are getting around that by adding players to be named later. The O's have now netted four such players through trades of Hector Velázquez to the Astros, reliever Richard Bleier to the Marlins and today's move with Milone.
The addition of Milone as a minor league free agent might have worked out exactly as hoped. He pitched well and helped the Orioles, then he netted them additional future talent while potentially opening the door for a young pitcher to take his spot.
This could pave the way for Keegan Akin to enter the Baltimore rotation.