Jordany Valdespin: Former Met With Club Record Five Pinch Hit HRs (2012 - 2013)

Jordany V. Valdespin was born December 23rd 1987 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. The six foot left hand hitter was signed by the New York Mets in 2007. 

He began as a second baseman & hit well through the ranks ofthe minors. 

In 2009 he hit five HRs 7 batted .279 in just 18 games at A ball Brooklyn. He was at St. Lucie the next season, moving up to AA Binghamton.

In 2011 he stole 33 bases (6th in the Eastern league) while batting .297 & hitting 15 HRs at AA Binghamton. 

He was promoted to AAA Buffalo toward the end of the season showing promise at the plate.

But on the field, he was terrible, making 35 errors eventually getting converted to an outfielder for 2012. 

After 17 games he was batting .276 when he was called up after Ronny Cedeno got injured.

MLB Debut: On April 23rd, Valdespin debuted on as a pinch hitter at Citi Field going 0-1 in a loss to the San Francisco Giants. 

Game Winning HR: On May 7th, in a tied game with the Phillies at Citizen's Bank Park, Valdespin came to bat with two on & two outs facing Jonathan Pabelbon.

 Valdespin hit a dramatic three run HR that proved to lead the Mets to a 5-2 victory.  It was his first career HR & a big one. 

Overall, he was struggling, as he was hitting just .091 at the start of June after 16 games.

In June, Jordany drove in two runs in the June 10th subway series match up although the Mets lost 5-4. 

Multi-Four RBI Game: On June 12th, he drove in four runs hitting a pair of doubles in an 11-2 win over the Rays at Tampa. 

In July he hit brought his average up to .277, hitting five HRs and was seeing more playing time.

Pinch Hit HRS: On June 5th in D.C., he hit his second pinch hit HR with a solo shot off the Nat's Jordan Zimmermann. 

On July 17th, Valdespin came to bat as a pinch hitter in the top of the 9th inning with two on & one out with New York down 2-0 to the Nationals. Valdespin hit a three run HR off Tyler Clippard for his third pinch hit HR of the season. The Mets would lose the game in extra innings.

On July 20th, he hit his fourth pinch hit HR, tying a club record with his 7th inning blast off the Dodgers Shawn Tollenson.

Mets Record 5th Pinch Hit HR: On July 24, in a loss to the Nationals, Jordany came to bat in the 8th inning facing Ryan Mattheus. He broke a Mets franchise record by hitting his fifth pinch-hit home run of the season. 

In August he began to slump off hitting just one more HR for the rest of the season.

He finished up batting .241 with 8 HRs nine doubles 26 RBIs ten stolen bases & a .286 on base %. In the outfield he made no errors posting a perfect fielding %, making one assist.

2013: The following season, he was penciled in as a centerfield platoon with Colin Cowgill. 

Walk Off Grand Slam HR: On April 24th Jordany came to bat with the bases loaded & one out in the bottom of the 10th inning of a 3-3 with the Dodgers at Citi Field.

Valdespin hit a grand slam HR off Josh Wall giving the Mets the walk-off win. It was the first Mets Walk off grand slam since Kevin McReynolds slam in 1991.

Aggravating the Team: His downfall began in May when he hit a HR against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium & celebrated while the Mets were down four runs. 

This did not go over well with his team, manager, fans or the opposing team. The next day he was put in as a pinch hitter & was hit by a pitch. The scenario made it look like manager Terry Collins put him in there, to teach him a lesson.

More Drama: Valdespin struggled at the plate batting just .188 & was sent down to AAA Las Vegas. At that point he referred to his manager Terry Collins with a curse word, demanding to be put on the DL. 

In August he was suspended for 50 games for using a performance enhancing drug. At the end of the season he was non tendered by the Mets.

In 2014, Jordany signed on with the Miami Marlins playing in 52 games hitting .214. In 2015 he played just two games for the Marlins at the big-league level. 

Career Stats: In his four-year career, Jordany batted .216 with 92 hits 15 HRs & 52 RBIs.

Retirement: For the next decade Jordany went on play in the Mexican League. In 2018 he played for the Long Island Ducks in Independent baseball, getting named the league's Player of the Year.