It was a long road for Sahid Valenzuela to get to this point.
Before he was drafted in the 13th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft in 2019, he had Tommy John surgery during his junior season at Cal State Fullerton.
Just when he was preparing to start his first year in the organization, the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 campaign.
The process taught Valenzuela a lot about who he was as a person and player, making an impact in 2021 with the Single-A Stockton Ports.
“It was a long process, I got to rehab in Arizona at the complex and I was ready to go for Spring Training, then we get hit with COVID so that was an extra year I didn’t get to play,” Valenzuela said. “It was about two and a half years off from baseball.”
Valenzuela added that the time away from the sport helped him mentally and physically.
This year, Valenzuela moved up to the High-A level and played for the Lansing Lugnuts before being assigned to the Midland RockHounds Wednesday.
It didn’t take long for the infielder to make some noise for the Midland franchise, going 2-for-3 at bat with a two-run homer to give the team a 4-0 win over the Tulsa Drillers in his Double-A debut.
Valenzuela said he was aiming to hit a sacrifice fly, but he got into his swing and saw the ball carry over the left field fence.
“It felt good rounding the bases and getting in the dugout, the whole team with smiles and high fiving me,” Valenzuela said. “It was a good first game.”
Before Valenzuela took the field for the first time with the RockHounds, the infielder made a good impression on manager Bobby Crosby.
Crosby described the young player as someone who can spray the ball over the field, adding that he wasn’t expecting to see Valenzuela hit a two-run homer in his first game at this level.
The manager believes it was important for Valenzuela to get out to a strong start to keep building up momentum.
“It’s good to get a good game under your belt, some guys come up and struggle a little bit and they’re trying to impress,” Crosby said. “If you can have a game like that where you go and contribute right out the gate, it’ll make you relax a little bit and realize that it’s just baseball.”
Getting acclimated to the area wasn’t difficult for Valenzuela, as he is originally from Yuma, Ariz.
Seeing the crowd get behind the big play he made late in the game gave him the confidence to continue pushing for bigger accomplishments in the future.
Crosby believes Valenzuela fits the hard-nosed playing style he looks for in his team.
“He came from Cal State Fullerton, I went to Long Beach, they were our rivals,” Crosby said. “Anyone that comes from Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach, they’ve been preaching the same way of baseball there for a long time.
“It’s hard-nosed, it’s doing things the right way and so far that’s exactly what he’s done.”
Valenzuela knows he’ll be facing tougher competition at the Double-A level, but he’s embracing the challenges that come with each game.
In his first game for the RockHounds, Valenzuela had to go up against Tulsa pitcher Bobby Miller, who is one of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ top prospects.
“His fast ball was up to 100, but at the end of the day it’s the same game,” Valenzuela said. “Just trying to play it.”
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