Getting to Know RHP Nivaldo Rodriguez and 2B/3B Enmanuel Valdez

Getting the opportunity to talk with some of the Latin players in the Astros organization has proven to be a win-win situation. I'm able to get a better feel for their personalities and they get the valuable experience of participating in a friendly interview to practice their English-language skills. The interviews are rarely groundbreaking but they are fun nonetheless. My most recent victims interviewees were RHP Nivaldo Rodriguez and 2B/3B Enmanuel Valdez. Both of these players have had early success this season and have been featured as players to watch in my weekly farm reports. Both players started their seasons with the Low A Quad Cities River Bandits and both are now working to prove themselves at a higher level since being promoted to High A Fayetteville.

Nivaldo Rodriguez - June 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Rodriguez has appeared in 13 games (11 starts) so far this season, compiling a 2.13 ERA and a 0.979 WHIP with 17 walks to 68 strikeouts in 63.1 innings of work. According to Fayetteville Manager Nate Shaver, Rodriguez showed himself to be a competitor from the first day he arrived at the higher level. "He continues to work everyday with Whit (Pitching Coach Thomas Whitsett) and work on pitch development. With his curveball being his best pitch, he's able to command the zone with it and he can throw it pretty much whenever he wants. He's able to strike guys out, throw three pitches and he's had good success," said Shaver of Rodriguez. That success has been consistent for Rodriguez who has a minor league career ERA of 2.30 and a 1.067 WHIP since his signing in June 2016.

Enmanuel Valdez - June 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Valdez is hitting .252/.339/.403 through 58 games this season. His bat is still trying to catch up with the High A level where he's experienced a drop off in his production (he was hitting .275/.374/.442 in 33 games with Quad Cities), but Shaver isn't particularly concerned about Valdez's offensive abilities, "He swings the bat really well." Shaver's main focus right now is helping Valdez fine-tune his defense. According to Shaver, although Valdez has played primarily at third and second, he can play "pretty much anywhere on the infield." Valdez has a strong arm, but Shaver is working with him to make sure that he is consistently getting good direction on his throws, that he is "maintaining good direction and good foot work." Shaver sees that defensive versatility as the key to getting Valdez in the lineup so that he can get the opportunity day in and day out to improve both offensively and defensively. Personally, I would say that Valdez is a fun player to watch. He is a high energy player and tends to be in the middle of the action.

And without further ado, let's hear from these two players ...


The shout-out from Enmanuel to Doris at the end of the interview is a tribute to Doris Gonzalez, the Astros Supervisor of Education, Player Acculturation and Language Development. Doris has been a terrific resource for me and I would like to thank her as well!