WBN’s International Player of the Week is Vaqueros de Montería outfielder Brayan Buelvas in Liga Profesional de Béisbol in Colombia.
Buelvas, 22, leads the LPB in home runs (9), RBI (35), and total bases (77). He is also second in the LPB with 43 hits, which only trails Tigres de Cartagena outfielder Brian Sanchez by two hits for the league lead. The right-handed hitting Buelvas has a slash line of .312/.405/.558 in 138LPB at-bats this season.
He debuted with Vaqueros de Montería in 2021; this is his third winter playing for them. Buelvas has seven stolen bases and has homered in three straight games twice this season. His best performance of the season came in an 11-4 win against Tigres de Cartagena on December 10 at Estadio 18 de Junio in Montería, Córdoba. He went 3-for-5 with a home run, five RBI, and one walk.
The Colombian Buelvas was born in Monteria and was signed out of Colombia by the Oakland Athletics for $100,000 USD in their 2018-2019 international free agent class. Buelvas is the Athletics’ 25-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline.com.
He made his professional debut with the Athletics in 2019 in their rookie-ball affiliates in Arizona and the Dominican Republic.
In 2021, he advanced to their Low-A affiliate, the Stockton Ports, and the following season, he was promoted to their High-A affiliate, the Lansing Lugnuts. Buelvas was promoted to their Double-A affiliate, the Midland RockHounds, towards the end of the 2023 season. Last season, he split time in High-A and Double-A, and his combined numbers were eighth home runs, 62 RBI, 27 stolen bases, and a slash line of .267/.352/.421 in 430 at-bats.
His MiLB career numbers in five seasons are 47 home runs, 245 RBI, 102 stolen bases, and a slash line of .239/.325/.408 in 1,660 at-bats.
Buelvas also played in the Caribbean Series, representing Colombia twice with Camines de Barranquilla in 2022 and Vaqueros de Monteria in 2023. He won it all with Camines de Barranquilla beating Gigantes del Cibao of LIDOM 4-1 at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo. In 2023, he got fourth with Vaqueros de Montería, and they lost 7-4 to Leones del Caracas of Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional in La Rinconada Baseball Stadium in Caracas.
