Guardians Top Prospect Recovering From Surgery; Expected To Make Debut This Season

He's the Cleveland Guardians' No. 3 ranked prospect.

Outfielder George Valera is recovering from surgery to repair a fractured hamate bone in his right hand.

Cleveland #Guardians 22-year-old OF prospect George Valera underwent surgery in December for a fractured hamate bone. He just recently got the cast off. Valera had surgery on the same hand for same injury back in 2018. Being told he will be ready for spring training.

— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) January 26, 2023

The good news, however, is that he is expected to be ready for spring training.

Valera, the 51st-ranked prospect in all of baseball, has begun taking dry swings but will be a bit behind at the start of spring training.

The twenty-two-year-old split last season between Double-A and Triple-A while posting a .250/.353/.463 triple-slash line, with 24 home runs, 82 RBIs, two stolen bases and 89 runs scored over 132 games.

Valera got off to a bad start once he was promoted to Triple-A, so one would figure the Guardians will give him a little more time to develop before calling him up to the majors.

Regardless, Valera will likely make his major-leage debut sometime this season.
Photo Credit: Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK