Quick Facts
Biography
Enmanuel Valdez (born December 28, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball infielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.
Career
Houston Astros
Valdez signed with the Houston Astros as an international free agent on July 2, 2015. He made his professional debut in 2016 with the Dominican Summer League Astros. He played 2017 with the Gulf Coast Astros and Greeneville Astros, 2018 with the Tri-City ValleyCats, and 2019 with the Quad Cities River Bandits and Fayetteville Woodpeckers.
Valdez did not play in 2020 due to cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned in 2021 to play for the Asheville Tourists and Corpus Christi Hooks. He started 2022 in Double-A with Corpus Christi. and was later promoted to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys of Triple-A.
Boston Red Sox
On August 1, 2022, Valdez and Wilyer Abreu were traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Christian Vázquez. Valdez finished the season with the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox.
On November 10, 2022, the Red Sox added Valdez to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. During the offseason, he played in the Dominican Winter League for Toros del Este. He was optioned to Worcester to begin the 2023 season.
On April 19, 2023, Valdez was promoted to the major leagues for the first time after Yu Chang was placed on the paternity list. Valdez made his MLB debut that evening, against the Minnesota Twins, and recorded two hits. He was optioned back to Worcester the next day, then recalled on April 25 when Chang went on the injured list due to a hand injury. Valdez remained with the Red Sox until being optioned back to Worcester on June 9. He was recalled to Boston on September 1, when major-league rosters expanded to 28 players, optioned back on September 12, and recalled again on September 22.
