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Freedom All Star hurler and New York native Frank Valentino has contract purchased by Mets


As the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, prepare for a series finale with the Joliet Slammers, it has been announced that All-Star right-hander, Frank Valentino had his contract purchased by the New York Mets on Thursday afternoon.

Valentino

Valentino, a product of Old Westbury, NY, will now start the climb through the minor league affiliates in hopes of one day playing for the club he grew up cheering for.

At the time his contract was purchased, Frank posted a (4-3) record and the lowest earned run average in all of the Frontier League among active and qualified pitchers, at 2.10. In the midst of his first season with the Freedom, the hurler totaled seven quality starts in 8 outings, and was named to his first All-Star game on June 25.

In addition to leading the Freedom club in quality starts, Valentino also paced the pitching staff in strikeouts (49), averaging over 6 per-start. The right-hander gave Florence a chance to win every night he toed the slab, despite the fact he received the smallest run-support among starters at 3.5 runs per outing.

“Frank has done a tremendous job for us this year and is an irreplaceable guy.” Freedom manager, Dennis Pelfrey continued, “He has the stuff to advance quickly in an affiliated organization and we wish him the best.”

Valentino becomes the ninth Freedom player to sign with an affiliated club since 2017, and is the fourth to start an affiliated career with the Mets, joining infielder, Jose Brizuela and pitchers Matt Pobereyko and Marty Anderson. In total, the Freedom have now sent 41 players to affiliated organizations dating back to 2011.

The Florence Freedom are members of the Independent Frontier League and play all homegames at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY.  The Freedom can be found online at florencefreedom.com, or by phone at (859) 594-4487.

Florence Freedom


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