Valdes takes charge as Cavs travel to Mississippi

Every team needs one. But not every team has one.

What is it?

“Everybody needs a loud Cuban,” Virginia catcher Franco Valdes joked. “Somebody to just lighten the mood and keep it interesting.”

During Virginia’s meteoric rise over its past eight games, Valdes has been a mainstay behind the plate.

Pitchers love throwing to him. Fans chuckle at his antics. Opponents have learned to fear him.

As Virginia (46-12-1) prepares for today’s trip to Ole Miss for Friday’s Super Regional opener against the Rebels (43-18), the importance of the third-year catcher stretches beyond his jovial personality and team-first mentality.

From inside the team and out, Valdes remains a natural leader.

“Most of your catchers are guys that are running the field, so to speak, and they’re running the game,” said Virginia associate head coach Kevin McMullan, a former catcher in the professional ranks. “If they’re not in control, you are in trouble or you better have a shortstop that is very vocal.

“A catcher is a guy that commands the field. He commands the tempo of the game. Franco has done a nice job game-wise; he has nice energy and he plays pretty dang good defense.”

Valdes, who started at Broward Community College in Florida, arrived at Virginia prior to the 2008 season and was forced to watch the opening game from the dugout after losing a preseason battle to former catcher Ryan Smith.

It crushed Valdes to watch as an innocent bystander.

“It took some time to get used to [pitching coach Karl Kuhn] and the system,” Valdes said. “It was hard at times.”

Valdes caught the second game of the season and essentially never looked back, starting 45 games in his first year as a Cavalier.

“Smith had won the job and Franco got an opportunity and guys really liked pitching to him,” McMullan said. “That’s probably the most important quality that a catcher has to have —those guys on the mound have to believe in him 100 percent and I think our guys did that in Franco and that’s when he started playing a high percentage of the time.

“It is important for that guy on the bump to feel great about the guy catching.”

With a rotation that likely will include a rookie (Danny Hultzen) and a sophomore (Robert Morey) this weekend in Oxford, Miss., the hurlers will often lean on the veteran.

“He is the loudest one in this bunch. We have a lot of guys who are not like Franco,” said Morey, who upstaged San Diego State’s Stephen Strasburg in the opening game of the Irvine Regional on Friday. “I think that brings a lot to this team. He is loud on the field and loud off the field, and it allows us to have confidence.

“If he wants to tell me something, he is not going to sugarcoat it.”

Hultzen added: “When I have been in tough jams, he comes out all smiles and just relaxes me a little bit. It is great having a guy like that.”

It starts long beyond the first pitch. Will Campbell, a reserve catcher, and Valdes make every attempt, while in different fashions, to get the team pumped for games.

“We are always yelling,” Campbell said. “Franco always tries to keep everything light and he will even throw in some Spanish in there that nobody understands, but it is always funny.”

Valdes, the MVP of the Irvine Regional, said it comes with the territory.

“I am the loudest guy out here and I push guys,” said Valdes, a streaky hitter who has a .292 batting average and 17 extra-base hits. “It is what I love to do. I push them until they can’t take it.

“It helps them and it helps me control the game.”

His next opportunity comes on Friday in the biggest game in program history.

“I am so ready,” Valdes said. “This is why we play this game.”