Shutout Whets Appetite of Angels’ Valera

Julio Valera used to satisfy his hunger with late-night snacks, padding his midsection with soft pounds that hampered his pitching. Exercise and a diet helped him lose 25 pounds last winter, but he’s still hungry--only now, he hungers to pitch regularly in the major leagues.

Valera, a right-hander with a good fastball and snaky forkball, has gotten that chance from the Angels, who acquired him from the New York Mets on April 12 for shortstop Dick Schofield.

Inserted into the starting rotation while Chuck Finley was sidelined by a sore left toe, Valera lost his Angel debut, a 3-2 decision April 15 at Texas. He earned his first American League victory in relief on April 21, and his first victory as a starter May 7, when he became the first Angel rookie in three years to pitch a complete-game shutout in a 6-0 victory over the Yankees. Valera walked one and struck out three in his five-hitter, and in the process won the right to compete for a regular place in the rotation.

“That was a great game for me. I want to do good every time out because I don’t want to get sent out again,” said Valera, whose next turn will be Saturday at Boston in the second game of the Angels’ nine-game, three-city Eastern trip.

“(Bert) Blyleven is a big guy. He won a lot of games,” Valera said. “I saw him pitch in the ’79 World Series (for Pittsburgh). I don’t want to lose my job to him. I want to do good and stay here. I don’t want to go back.”

For now he’ll go in the fourth spot in the rotation. His hold on the job got stronger Thursday when the Angels demoted Joe Grahe and released Don Robinson. But even before Thursday’s moves, the Angels had no intention of demoting Valera, not while he’s 2-1 with a 2.00 earned-run average in 27 innings.

Valera’s performance against the Yankees impressed Manager Buck Rodgers, who doubted Valera’s stamina after a mediocre, five-inning performance May 2 against the Indians. Valera attributed his struggles in Cleveland to fatigue from a relief stint four days earlier in Toronto, and given the usual rest between outings, he dominated the Yankees almost effortlessly.

“He was gassed after 65 pitches in Cleveland, which was not a good sign, but he came back to throw a complete game here and he was still strong at the end, which was a good sign,” said Rodgers, who took Grahe out of the rotation to accommodate Valera Saturday.

“We’re learning about him. We know he can get quality hitters out, and quality left-handed hitters. I’m not afraid to put him against anybody right now, but we’ve got to keep finding out what he can do because we’ve only had him a short time.”

Even when Valera signed with the Mets as a free agent in 1986--just before Puerto Rican players became subject to the major league draft--he knew he might not make it to the majors for a long time.

“I signed and I realized I was in the wrong place because they had a lot of pitching,” he said, smiling. “Every year they were getting good, young pitchers.”

Valera made his major league debut on Sept. 1, 1990, thrown into the Mets’ National League East championship fight by then-manager Bud Harrelson. He made three starts, compiling a 1-1 record with one no-decision and a 6.92 ERA.

His promotion was unexpected, but so was his disappearance last season. He made only two appearances for the Mets, both in relief within a one-week span in June. He wasn’t recalled in September and was with triple-A Tidewater (Va.) of the International League when the Mets traded him to the Angels.

“It took me by surprise when the Mets called me up in ’90 because I didn’t expect to go up that late in the season,” said Valera, who was 10-10 with Tidewater each of the past two seasons. “But three starts is not going to make a career. That’s not a real good chance. Here, they’ve been giving me a chance. . . .

“They never told me why they didn’t give me a chance last season. They brought me up for a week because somebody was hurt and I only pitched two innings. I did good--I didn’t give up any runs--and they said they were going to call me up in September and they didn’t. They called up a lot of guys, some of them who were in their first year in triple A and had never been up in the big leagues, so I felt kind of bad. I said, ‘I’d better go home and regroup, work out and see what happens.’ ”

One of the best things that happened was his weight loss. The Mets had urged him to get closer to the 190 pounds he weighed two years ago, but Valera wasn’t sure if it was worth the effort.

“I asked my wife if I should do it and she said, ‘Yes, it’s your job,’ ” said Valera, who married Zoraida Jimenez five years ago. “She helped me. She told me, ‘Don’t eat at night.’ It’s hard because we play at night and we’re out at 11 and most of the time you’re hungry and you eat whatever.”

His appetite for winning hasn’t been satisfied. It will certainly last beyond his first time around the league, when he might have an advantage because hitters are unfamiliar with his sinking fastball and nasty curve.

“A lot of people have seen me in Puerto Rico or the minors. They know what kind of pitcher I am and what I throw,” Valera said. “We have scouting reports, too. I know where to pitch to those guys. You’ve got to make your pitch to be good in this game or you’ve got to hit your pitch to be a good hitter. . . .

“I’m comfortable here. It’s a lot better compared to New York,” he said. “In New York, there was a lot of pressure going on from the media and all the people. Here, it’s quieter. Everywhere you go, there’s six or seven guys from the media. In New York, you’ve got 20 or 25 guys. That puts a lot of pressure on you.

“I never had a chance to prove myself in New York. In three games you’re not going to do it. Now, they’re giving me a chance, and I’m trying to prove every time out I can pitch in the big leagues. So far, it’s been great. Even when I started and then had to go to the bullpen, at least I’m getting a chance, and that’s all I wanted, to get a chance.

“I was hoping this year I would get traded before the season started and I was happy with the trade. They needed a shortstop and we needed a pitcher. It’s working out for both teams.”