Valente Bellozo

Valente Bellozo (born January 4, 2000) is a Mexican professional baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.

Bellozo signed with the Houston Astros as an international free agent on July 3, 2017.^[1] He made his professional debut in 2018 with the Dominican Summer League Astros, posting a 1.74 ERA with 42 strikeouts over 14 appearances.^[2] Bellozo split the 2019 campaign between the Low–A Tri-City ValleyCats and Single–A Quad Cities River Bandits. In 14 appearances between the two affiliates, he accumulated a 6–1 record and 1.70 ERA with 69 strikeouts across 58+1⁄3 innings pitched.^[3]

Bellozo did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4] He missed the entirety of the 2021 campaign as well, due to an undisclosed injury.^[5] Bellozo returned to action in 2022, making 10 appearances (5 starts) for the Single–A Fayetteville Woodpeckers and recording a 1.73 ERA with 43 strikeouts.^[6]

Bellozo split the 2023 season between the High–A Asheville Tourists and Double–A Corpus Christi Hooks. In 26 total games (16 starts), he compiled a cumulative 5.55 ERA with 106 strikeouts and 4 saves across 110+1⁄3 innings of work.^[7]

On April 6, 2024, the Astros traded him to the Miami Marlins for Jacob Amaya.^[8] He split time between the Double–A Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Triple–A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp prior to his promotion. On June 26, 2024, Bellozo was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.^[9] In his MLB debut that day against the Kansas City Royals, Bellozo tossed five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two.^[10]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)