Valencia, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and run in Thursday's Cactus League win over the Giants, is now the everyday first baseman with the demotion of Dan Vogelbach to Triple-A Tacoma, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.
Valencia was originally slated to be the right-handed side of a platoon with Vogelbach, but he'll now have an opportunity for a full workload. He's rightfully earned a reputation as a lefty masher throughout his career, slashing .321/.373/.500 with a .377 wOBA and 32 percent hard contact rate against southpaws. While his numbers against right-handers come nowhere close, they've notably improved the last two seasons, as he's posted respective averages of .285 and .275 over that span. While he's struggled overall this spring (.208 average over 53 at-bats), Valencia brings a body of work at the major league level that Vogelbach doesn't yet possess. "Danny has a real track record," general manager Jerry Dipoto said. "Over the last three seasons he's really hit, both righties and lefties. We talked about that as one of his main attractions. The versatility. He's pounded the lefties and over the last couple years he's hit the righties as well. He's transitioned to first quite well. He can really throw for a first baseman and here over the last week's he's actually started to pick it up., the barrel contact, he's starting to swing the bat better."