Elliott: Jorge Valdes -- catch him if you can
Speedy OF Jorge Valdes (Milton, Ont.) of the Ontario Blue Jays
April 14, 2023
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
Everyone -- well maybe 99 and 44/100% -- of people we write about on this site love baseball.
This is a baseball story but also a love story.
Joanne DeFrancesco of Oakville accompanied her girlfriend Spir, who was celebrating her birthday, on a trip to a Varadero Beach resort in Cuba.
There Joanne met Jorge Valdez on May 1, 2001 and the rest they say is history.
“It was love at first sight,” said Joanne.
They were wed Aug. 30, 2022. In November of 2003, Jorge obtained his visa and moved to Canada.
“I sponsored Jorge, but a lot of the rules changed after 9/11,” said Joanne, “so it took more than 15 1/2 months for the visa to come through.
“People will go to any lengths for love.”
On March 13, 2005, a baby arrived in Oakville. His name was Jorge Valdes, Jr. He grew up to play for the Oakville A’s and Ontario Blue Jays and is now an outfielder respected as one of the fastest Canadians on the base paths and a member of the Junior National Team.
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More on love later ... now we move upstairs to The Athlete Matrix in Mississauga.
Jorge is talking about the most exciting game he ever played. Watson Elite’s Ty Hamilton (Orleans, Ont.) was in centre, the Terriers’ Keegan O’Hearn (Oshawa, Ont.) was in right and Valdez (Milton, Ont.) was in left as the Juniors faced Puerto Rico in San Jose Del Cabo, Mex. The left fielder called the threesome the best outfield he’d ever been a part of.
Listed at 5-foot-10, 165-pounds on the Baseball Canada website, Valdes spoke about the opening game of the WBSC Americas U-18 World Cup qualifier. Tyrus Hall (Victoria, BC) flared a double to left. Canada was down to its last out.
“It was a crazy game, very intense, the whole game was back and forth,” Valdes explained. “Their team had all signed with big-league clubs. They can sign when they are 16.”
The first pitch was a slider. The second pitch was a fastball away to left-handed hitter Valdes.
“I was looking for something outside, a pitch I could slap to left field,” said Valdes, who slapped the pitch into left field for the tying run.
Now, a lot of hitters would try and muscle up and try to hit the ball from Cabo to California. Or at least over the right-fielder’s head. You remember the way 2B Ryan Goins would muscle up ... trying to go deep like Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion.
Jorge Valdes (Milton, Ont.) with the Junior National Team.
“I have to be real,” Valdes said, “I was playing two years up. I learned early I can’t hit home runs. I have to get on bases and steal.”
This young man knows his areas of expertise and his limitations. He has been clocked in a 6.5 60-yard dash and 3.85 going from home to first. The seven-inning game moved on to to extras with Puerto Rico scoring twice in the top half and Canada once in the bottom half. Puerto Rico wound up 10-9 winners.
Valdes talked about hitting the ball the other way and the old timer listens before blurting out “you know you sound a lot like Tony Gwynn, his aim was always to hit the ball through the 5-6 hole, unless they came inside on him.”
Valdes didn’t bat an eye and compared “his” game to Trea Turner, probably the best hitting shortstop -- certainly the one with the largest contract at 11 years -- in the game today. A right-handed hitter Turner slashes the ball the other way and future Hall of Famer, left-handed hitter Ichiro Suzuki, could pull the ball down the right field line or slap it inside the left-field foul line.
How ‘bout those Oakville A’s? Jorge Valdes, Jr. with his sister Isabel, his father Jorge and mother Joanne
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It all started when Valdes was wearing an Oakville A’s uniform in the Town of Oakville. Under coach David Gillespie the A’s won three straight OBA titles (minor and major rookie ball, plus minor mosquito) and losing in the final at the major mosquito level.
He is still friends with former Oakville teammates Evan Tanaka and Thomas Riley, a pair of right-handers.
For his peewee year he moved to the Ontario Blue Jays.
Another year another title for mom Joanne, sister Isabel, Jorge, Jr. and father Jorge.
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Valdes verbally committed to West Virginia Mountaineers after the Ontario Blue Jays, under coach Mike Steed (Burlington, Ont.) travelled to the City of Palms Park when recruiters saw him play and he signed a Letter of Intent in November.
Steed is a pitching coach in the Atlanta Braves system with class-A Rome Braves this season. Said Valdes with a laugh: “He’s a hard ass.”
“Viva Cuba,” said Steed. “What a great family. The speed tool is impressive. He needs to see better pitching more consistently and he will succeed. He’ll have a higher draft position out of WVU in my opinion than in July.
“The panic he creates when he hits a line drive or put the ball on the ground, Wow!”
Valdes has had signability visits from five big-league clubs leading up to the July draft and some scouts expected him to be drafted.
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If Steed had an impact on Valdes’ career, so has hitting coach Pat Visca (or Mr. Visca as many teenagers call the wisest man in the facility a lot of nights).
“He’s been a big help,” Valdes said, “and not just with my swings. He’s helped with humbleness, mental toughness, reality checks. He communicates with his voice and speaks his mind. It’s wonderful to have a coach like that in your life.
“He loves the game and he loves helping.”
More love.
Jorge mentions the framed picture of mom and dad kissing on the island Cuba and their wedding date.
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Playing for the Royal Blue team at the Canadian Futures Showcase last fall, Valdes hit .300 (3-for-10) with an RBI, going 6-for-6 stealing bases. He finished the four games with a .762 OPS.
In 2022, with the Ontario Blue Jays, Valdes batted .421 with 10 doubles, two triples a homer and 24 RBIs in 46 games. He also stole 40 bases and had a 1.096 OPS.
On the Langley Blaze’s March Arizona trip this spring, Valdez was 2-for-6 stealing bases, including one against a double-A Oakland A’s catcher, as well as a second-year pro from the Cincinnati Reds.
“He showed well,” said Langley coach Doug Mathieson. “I had some pro teams ask about him. He runs very well, has good instincts and plays the game hard.
“He pulled something and sat out a few games, but came back for the last few days of the trip.”
Valdes batted .214 in eight games (3-for-14) with two RBIs with a .635 OPS facing pros and junior college players.
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“Did you ask Jorge about his grandfather?” Richard Clemons, a hitting instructor with the Ontario Blue Jays asks.
“His grandfather doesn’t miss a game, he loves his grandpa,” said Clemons. “His grandfather always sits on our side -- far enough away that he is not a distraction -- and he is always smoking a cigar.”
Jorge’s grandfather, Mario DeFrancesco and grandmother Debbie, who passed away nine years ago, used to be involved coaching the Oakville A’s when their sons were young playing ball.
“My grandfather understands the game. He smokes big Cuban cigars. He loves his cigars.”
More love between grandfather and grandson.
“If his grandfather is not there, Jorge is not himself,” Clemons said. “Jorge introduced me to his grandfather in Florida and we were supposed to hook up for a post-game cigar. But I was involved with duties with the team and we never caught up with each other.”
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Valdes is asked who are the most influential people in his life, the people who helped him get to where he currently is on the diamond.
“My parents,” he says in less than 3.85 seconds. “I wouldn’t be where I’m at without them. My mother sacrificed a lot, working three jobs a week.”
Jorge’s father is a produce manager at No Frills in Milton, where the family moved from Oakville eight years ago.
Joanne’s jobs consisted of A) her normal 9-to-5 job is as an account director for the marketing agency Mark IV, which she joined six months ago after 18 years at Match Retail; B) working weekends at No Frills when her husband could find her a shift, some days Saturdays, some days both days and C) delivering food via Instacart on her lunch breaks.
“My Dad would always give her extra shifts,” he says. “Hopefully one day I’ll be able to pay my parents back.”
If the baseball gods have any influence, it should work out ... most love stories do.