Breyvic Valera tabbed as IL Player of the Week

Infielder honored by International League for play between May 20-26

MOOSIC, Pa. (May 27, 2019) – The International League announced today that Scranton/Wilkes-Barre infielder Breyvic Valera was selected as the Player-of-the-Week for May 20-27. Valera was claimed off of waivers by the New York Yankees on May 12 and is the first RailRiders player to be honored by the league this season.

Valera hit .522 (12-for-23) over six games last week with four walks, two doubles, four home runs and 12 runs batted in, helping pace Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to a 5-1 record during the week as the club rose to first place in the International League North. Valera hit home runs in three straight games during the stretch, including a go-ahead grand slam in Friday’s come-from-behind win at Syracuse.

The infielder was initially signed as an international free agent in 2010 by the St. Louis Cardinals. He made his Major League debut for the Cardinals in 2016. After a trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018, Valera was later traded to Baltimore in the Manny Machado deal. The San Francisco Giants acquired Valera this past January, but designated him for assignment earlier this month, allowing the Yankees to claim him.

Valera was a two-time organizational all-star for the Cardinals, a three-time mid-season All-Star and previously won a Pacific Coast League Player-of-the-Week honor in August 2017 with Memphis. 

Syracuse’s Chris Mazza was tabbed by the International League as their Pitcher-of-the-Week. He worked seven innings of three-hit, one run ball Friday against the RailRiders; the same game that Valera hit the eighth inning, go-ahead slam in.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre concludes its weekend road trip to Syracuse this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. before opening a six-game homestand Tuesday at PNC Field. Tickets for the upcoming homestand, which includes the Red Barons Reunion Weekend, are available online at swbrailriders.com.