REPORTS: Top-10 Guardians Prospect Out For Multiple Weeks
With Spring Training underway, the Cleveland Guardians are getting closer to the start of their 2024 season.
However, one member of the team’s 40-man roster will reportedly not be participating in Cleveland’s 2024 Cactus League play for a while.
This is because according to MLB.com’s Mandy Bell, Guardians prospect George Valera has suffered a strained hamstring, and will be out for “a few weeks.”
Additionally, Cleveland.com Guardians beat writer Paul Hoynes reported that Valera will be out for “several weeks,” and that he sustained the strained left hamstring during a pop-up drill.
Ahead of the 2024 season, the 23-year-old outfielder is Cleveland’s seventh-ranked prospect according to Baseball America.
Valera dealt with both a hand injury and a hamstring injury last year, and was limited to 73 games with Triple-A Columbus. He hit .211 with 54 hits, 10 doubles, 10 home runs, 35 RBI, and a .713 OPS.
Jun 28, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Clippers right fielder George Valera (13) catches a ball during the MiLB baseball game against the Toledo Mud Hens at Huntington Park.
© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
He ended the 2023 season as the Guardians’ fifth-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Before that, he was the publication’s top-ranked Cleveland prospect, and 47th overall following the 2022 campaign.
Valera has been one of the Guardians’ most productive offensive prospects since signing as an international free agent in 2017. In 355 Minor League games, ranging from rookie ball through Triple-A, he has hit .242 with 301 hits, 52 doubles, 10 triples, 63 home runs, 223 RBI, 23 stolen bases, and an .815 OPS.
As Valera recovers from this injury setback, Cleveland fans will continue to look forward to his progression through the team’s player development system.
