Editing Fernando Valenzuela (section)

== Player profile ==

=== Pitching ===
Valenzuela relied on deception, command, and a large arsenal of off-speed pitches to keep opposing batters off balance. During his rookie year, [[Sandy Koufax]] noted that "it's very unusual for someone that young to have such control over so many pitches."<ref name=":10" /> He was never a power pitcher; at his peak he threw roughly 87–88&nbsp;mph, which fell to 83–84&nbsp;mph or below during his final Dodgers years and 79-84&nbsp;mph in 1994.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Privman |first=Jay |date=July 4, 1994 |title=Valenzuela Makes Return To Acclaim, and Defeat |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/04/sports/baseball-valenzuela-makes-return-to-acclaim-and-defeat.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> However, Valenzuela's longtime catcher [[Mike Scioscia]] recalled that at his peak, Valenzuela "had impeccable command" and could "move a ball 3 or 4 inches more off the corner at will." He praised Valenzuela's ability to disguise his pitches, noting that "everything looked like a fastball out of his hand."<ref name=":13" />

He was best known for his [[screwball]],<ref name=":11" /> which looked like a fastball and broke late.<ref name=":15" /> He was able to throw screwballs at varying velocities,<ref name=":10" /> and he could also cause them to break vertically or laterally.<ref name=":17">{{Cite web |last1=Sanchez |first1=Jesse |last2=Alonso |first2=Nathalie |last3=Venn |first3=David |date=October 22, 2024 |title=Remembering Fernandomania 40 years later |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/remembering-fernandomania-40-years-later |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}</ref> [[Rick Monday]] recalled that Valenzuela's screwball was so deceptive that it could generate swinging strikes even if Valenzuela was having trouble targeting it that day.<ref name=":16">{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Tony |date=June 25, 2010 |title=Valenzuela pitched best game in 1981 World Series |url=https://www.espn.com/los-angeles/mlb/columns/story?id=5325436 |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}</ref> However, he also threw an effective [[curveball]], and was also known to throw a [[changeup]], a [[Sinker (pitch)|sinker]], and a [[Slider (pitch)|slider]].<ref name=":10" /> In his later years he added a [[Cut fastball|cutter]] to mitigate his diminishing effectiveness.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":12" />

A workhorse starter, Valenzuela was able to remain effective late in games, despite high pitch counts, which Scioscia credited to his slow heartbeat and ability to "slow the game down."<ref name=":15" /> In Game 3 of the [[1981 World Series]], with the Dodgers down 2–0 to the [[New York Yankees]], Valenzuela struggled through difficult circumstances: he was pitching on short rest,<ref name=":17" /> he could not locate his signature screwball,<ref name=":16" /> and he surrendered nine hits and seven walks.<ref name="turbow_10262017" /> He needed 72 pitches to get through the first three innings,<ref name="turbow_10262017" /> and Valenzuela later recalled that [[Tommy Lasorda]] considered pulling him in the third inning.<ref name=":16" /> Nonetheless, he convinced Lasorda to leave him in the game. He shut down the Yankees offense for the next six innings to earn a complete game victory.<ref name=":16" /> He threw over 145 pitches that game,<ref name=":9" /> although the exact number is disputed.

Valenzuela was known for his unusual windup, which involved a skyward glance on every pitch, as well as his high leg kick.<ref name=":17" /> He said that he developed the former habit spontaneously during his time in the Dodgers' minor league system.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 20, 2008 |title=Fernando Valenzuela interview |url=http://www.oyemag.com/index.php/fernando-valenzuela/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131222359/http://oyemag.com/index.php/fernando-valenzuela/ |archive-date=January 31, 2009 |access-date=December 21, 2008 |work=Open Your Eyes Magazine |language=es}}</ref>

=== Hitting ===
Valenzuela was considered an atypically good hitter for a pitcher. He won the [[List of Silver Slugger Award winners at pitcher|Silver Slugger award for pitchers]] in 1981 and 1983.<ref name="almanac" /> Of his 41.5 career wins above replacement (WAR), 4.1 were attributed to his bat, including 1.2 WAR in 1990 (in just 78 plate appearances) and 0.6 WAR in both 1981 and 1986 (71 and 116 plate appearances, respectively). By way of comparison, [[Mike Hampton]] (the all-time leader in pitching Silver Sluggers) never tallied more than 1.2 batting WAR in a single season.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mike Hampton |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hamptmi01.shtml |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

Valenzuela's best year at the plate was 1990—his last year with the Dodgers—when he had a .304 [[Batting average (baseball)|batting average]] with five [[Double (baseball)|doubles]], a home run, and 11 [[runs batted in]] (RBIs) in 69 [[at-bat]]s. That gave him a 101 [[OPS+]], meaning Valenzuela ranked just above average among all NL hitters that year, including non-pitchers. He batted .200 for his career (187 hits in 936 at-bats, roughly equivalent to two seasons as a position player) with 10 home runs, 26 doubles, and 84 RBIs.<ref name="br" /> Valenzuela was even used on occasion as a [[pinch-hitter]], batting .368 (7-for-19) as such. Twice while with the Dodgers, Valenzuela was called upon to play the [[outfield]] and first base in marathon [[extra-inning]] games in which he did not pitch.<ref>{{cite web|first=Philippe |last=Cousineau|title=Pitchers in the Field: The Use of Pitchers at Other Positions in the Major Leagues, 1969–2009|publisher=Society for American Baseball Research|url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/pitchers-in-the-field-the-use-of-pitchers-at-other-positions-in-the-major-leagues-1969-2009/|access-date=October 23, 2014}}</ref>