Danny Valencia: One of the Hottests Hitters of the Month

Danny Valencia Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

What do people think of when talking about the past month of Baltimore Orioles baseball? The struggle of the lineup to make it count with runners in scoring position, Chris Davis breaking Brady Anderson‘s franchise record for single-season home runs, and the end of the season creeping up on us all with the Orioles battling for a wild card spot come to mind. What about Danny Valencia? The hottest hitter in the past month on the Orioles roster has made the most out of what he has been given this year and has delivered many crucial hits to keep Baltimore fighting for an extension on their 2013 campaign.

In the past 28 days, the 28-year old from the University of Miami has posted a batting line that is only seen in video games. Valencia is batting .447 with a slugging percentage of .809 and 38 total bases since August 22nd and even more impressive of these 28 games he has only 13 of them and is still putting up fantastic numbers. Most recently Valencia tripled in the top of the 9th on Monday night against the Red Sox, this hit was eventually driven in by a Matt Weiters sacrifice fly and gave the O’s a much needed win in Boston. Valencia has done it all, he has started and performed well (4 hits including one double in a loss to the Yankees on the 11th), but has also come in as a pinch batter and has delivered clutch hits.

Valencia has played with the Norfolk Tides for the majority of this year but has impressed Buck Showalter enough to pull him up on the expanded 40-man roster and that move has payed off for the Orioles. Valencia has cracked the starting lineup in 8 of the last 10 games and in that stretch has compiled a batting average of .393 and 8 RBI’s. He has given the Orioles a reliable bat this past month, in a span of games where the ability of the O’s to score with runners in scoring position has been tested and has cost the Orioles quite a few games. It is in Showalter’s best interest to keep penciling this kid into the batting rotation, he’s worked hard to get pulled up to the expanded roster and has put himself into a position to become a mainstay in the Orioles lineup for the rest of the 2013 regular season.