Chris Valaika
From BR Bullpen
Christopher A. Valaika
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 200 lb.
- School University of California, Santa Barbara
- High School William S. Hart High School
- Born August 14, 1985 in Valencia, CA USA
Chris Valaika is a Cincinnati Reds prospect.
Valaika set his high school's record with 18 career home runs and topped .400 his sophomore, junior and senior years. In the 2001 World Youth Championship, Valaika hit .444/?/.555 for the USA and was named the All-Tournament second baseman in helping them to a title. In 2003, he played for the USA junior national team in the Pan-Am Cup and hit .385 while slugging .692. He was 4th on the team in average.
Valaika remained productive as a freshman in college, hitting .347/.411/.536. He was named the Big West Conference Freshman Player of the Year and the Freshman All-American SS according to Baseball America. He was attending UC Santa Barbara, the same school his favorite player, Michael Young, had gone to.
Chris was again on a US national team, now the college one after having been on the youth and junior ones. He went 3 for 15 with no extra-base hits in the 2004 World University Championship, splitting second base duties with Jed Lowrie as the USA won the Gold Medal. Overall, he hit .239 and slugged .413 for the team that summer. One of just four freshman on the unit, he backed up Lowrie at 2B and Troy Tulowitzki at SS.
Valaika had a rough 2005, missing most of the season to injury. He batted .208/.253/.278 in 18 games in a lost year.
He bounced back in 2006 with a .335/.372/.529 batting line. He drove in 57 runs in 54 games, leading the Big West Conference. He split All-Conference honors at SS with Blake Davis.
The Cincinnati Reds chose Valaika in the third round of the 2006 amateur draft (84th overall) and signed him for a $437,500 bonus.
Valaika was assigned initially to the Billings Mustangs, a low start for a college player. He did very well, hitting .324/.387/.520 with 58 runs and 60 RBI in 70 games. He was 8th in the Pioneer League in average, second in RBI (one behind leader Chris Errecart, second in runs (6 behind Ryan Rogowski), tied Gerardo Parra for the hit lead (89), tied Chris Carter for the league lead in total bases (143), was third in extra-base hits (34) and tied for third in doubles (22). He led league shortstops in putouts (99) and double plays (51). He also set the league record for the longest hitting streak with 32 games, the longest in the affiliated minor leagues in 2006. He made the All-Star team at shortstop and helped power Billings to the best regular-season record in the loop. He won league MVP honors and was named the Topps Pioneer League Player of the Year. Baseball America rated him as the #13 prospect in the league.
Valaika played for the Dayton Dragons and Sarasota Reds in 2007. Combined, he hit .284/.335/.426 with 12 home runs and 79 RBI in 517 at-bats.
In 2008, he has played for the Sarasota Reds and Chattanooga Lookouts. Through June 23, he is hitting .363/.393/.585 with seven home runs and 31 RBI.
Sources: 2002-2007 Baseball Almanacs, UC Santa Barbara Athletics website, The Baseball Cube, Minorleaguebaseball.com, 2007 Reds Media Guide
