George

Valera

Valera hadn’t started since April 25 and was hitting just .216/.237/.297 in 37 at-bats. Perhaps CJ Kayfus will get another opportunity here, or perhaps the Guardians simply will roll with Angel Martínez since he’s hot and add another bench player.

Hoskins will get a day off with Chase DeLauter serving as the designated hitter and George Valera getting the start in right.

Valera spent the first couple weeks of the season on a minor league rehab assignment where he hit .294 (10-for-34) with two homers and 12 RBI in eight games. The 25-year-old former top prospect will occupy a bench role with Cleveland with CJ Kayfus heading back to the minors.

Valera hit the injured list at the end of spring training with a left calf strain and figures to remain stationed on the doorstep of the majors once he wraps up his rehab assignment. The 25-year-old was one of the most promising prospects in Cleveland’s system a few years before injuries stalled his progress.

Valera had been the favorite to win the left or right field job in Cleveland, but his injury seems to have opened the door for Angel Martinez to get first crack at that. There is currently no clear timeline for Valera’s return.

Gaddis is dealing with tightness in his forearm and while he has shown improvement, it’s going to take him longer than a couple of weeks to build back up before he’s able to help out the Guardians’ bullpen. Valera has been battling a mild left calf strain and isn’t expected to be shelved for long, but being ready for Opening Day looks unlikely at this stage.

Kwan is a Gold Glove winner in left field, but moving to center field could help the Guardians put their best offense on the field. That would open up left field for George Valera with Chase DeLauter playing right field. All three bat left-handed, so the alignment would obviously change versus left-handed pitchers, but this feels like a likely outcome if Kwan looks good enough in center field.

Brito’s case was pretty obvious, but this is actually a second straight extra option year for Valera. He never used one in 2025, though, since the Guardians non-tendered him and then re-signed him to a minor league contract. He finally made his major league debut in September and performed well enough overall to keep himself in the Guardians’ plans for 2026. However, now there’s no pressure on the team to save room for him on the Opening Day roster. The Guardians will still have Nolan Jones, Jhonkensy Noel, Brayan Rocchio and Gilbert Arias as out-of-options players, which could make it more difficult for C.J. Kayfus, Angel Martínez and maybe Daniel Schneeman to make the team, depending on how the rest of the offseason goes.

Valera took Casey Mize deep to give the Guardians a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The 24-year-old has shown flashes of why he was once widely considered one of the best prospects in baseball, but this was obviously the biggest hit of his (very) young career.

Cleveland is now one game up on Detroit. The fates really put the exclamation point to their AL Central preference tonight, as Valera hit a rare one-ballpark-out-of-30 homer at Progressive Field. That can only happen in an area a bit to the right of dead center, and Valera made it happen with a 393-foot fly just over a jumping Parker Meadows. He has two homers and a .242/.359/.485 line in 39 plate appearances since debuting at the beginning of the month.