Framber Valdez

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Framber Valdez
Houston Astros – No. 59
Pitcher
Born: (1993-11-19) November 19, 1993 (age 28)
Palenque, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right
Throws: Left
MLB debut
August 21, 2018, for the Houston Astros
MLB statistics
(through 2021 season)
Win–loss record24–17
Earned run average3.74
Strikeouts303
Teams

Framber Valdez (born November 19, 1993) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Valdez signed with the Astros as an international free agent in 2015. He made his MLB debut in 2018.

Early life[]

Framber Valdez was born in Palenque, San Cristóbal Province, Dominican Republic.[1] He started pitching at age 16.[2]

Career[]

Minor leagues[]

Valdez signed with the Houston Astros as an international free agent on March 19, 2015, for a $10,000 signing bonus.[3] At age 21, he was five years older than most amateur free agent signings from his country.[2] Two Astros scouts spotted him after a long day of viewing programs led by independent trainers.[3] Watching him throw only six pitches, they offered him a tryout at their Dominican academy near Guayacanes.[2]

Valdez made his professional debut in 2015 with the DSL Astros, going 4–1 with a 3.68 ERA over 36+2⁄3 innings. He split the 2016 season between the Greeneville Astros, Tri City ValleyCats, Quad Cities River Bandits, and Lancaster JetHawks, combining to go 4–5 with a 3.19 ERA over 73+1⁄3 innings. He split the 2017 season between the Buies Creek Astros and the Corpus Christi Hooks, going a combined 7–8 with a 4.16 ERA over 110+1⁄3 innings. Following the 2017 season, he played for the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League.[4]

He split the 2018 minor league season between Corpus Christi and the Fresno Grizzlies, going a combined 6–5 with a 4.11 ERA over 103 innings.[5][6]

Houston Astros[]

Rookie season (2018)[]

The Astros promoted Valdez to the major leagues for the first time on August 21, 2018.[7] He made his debut that day, pitching 4+1⁄3 innings and earning the win.[8] With Houston in 2018, he went 4–1 with a 2.19 ERA over 37 innings.

2019[]

He split the 2019 season between the Round Rock Express and Houston. With Round Rock, he went 5–2 with a 3.25 ERA over 44+1⁄3 innings. With Houston, he went 4–7 with a 5.86 ERA over 70+2⁄3 innings.[9][10]

2020[]

In 2020, he was 5–3 with a 3.57 ERA in 11 games (10 starts), in which he threw 70+2⁄3 innings and struck out 76 batters (8th in the AL), and had the second-best home runs/9 IP ratio in the AL (0.637).[11] He led the club in innings pitched, tied for the team lead in games won,[12] and was named Astros Pitcher of the Year by the Houston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA).[13]

On September 29, 2020, Valdez became the first relief pitcher to throw five scoreless innings in the playoffs since Madison Bumgarner did so in Game 7 in the 2014 World Series. Valdez has had great success in the playoffs and took his team into the ALCS and almost led them to the World Series.[14]

2021[]

On March 3, 2021, Valdez suffered a fractured left ring finger after he was hit in the hand by a Francisco Lindor ground ball in a spring training game.[15] Expected to miss months or possibly the whole season, he returned on May 28. He led the major leagues in ground ball rate in 2021.

In 2021 he was 11-6 with one complete game and a 3.14 ERA.[16] In 22 starts he pitched 134.2 innings.[16]

Valdez started Game 5 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS) versus the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. He went eight innings to earn the win in a 9–1 final, limiting Boston to one run on three hits and a walk while striking out five. At several points during the game, Red Sox radio announcers Joe Castiglione and Will Flemming commented that Valdez was rubbing the fingers of his pitching hand against his cheek and temple each time he was given a new ball, which prompted an angry response from Houston sportswriters.[17]

Valdez was the seventh visiting pitcher at Fenway to go at least eight innings in a postseason game while allowing a run or fewer, and the first since Charles Nagy in 1998.[18]

Personal life[]

Valdez is married with 2 children.[19]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Framber Valdez Stats". Baseball Almanac. 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Kyle, Brad (August 21, 2018). "From Out Of Nowhere, Dominican Lefty Framber Valdez Bolsters Astros' Bullpen". The Runner Sports. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Kaplan, Jake (August 25, 2018). "Scouting Framber Valdez: The story behind the Astros' little-known left-hander". The Athletic. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  4. ^ Ryan Dunsmore (October 10, 2017). "2017 Arizona Fall League Primer: Astros send Tucker and Alvarez to Mesa". The Crawfish Boxes. SB Nation. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  5. ^ John Sickels (September 4, 2018). "Thoughts on Astros prospect Framber Valdez". Minor League Ball. SB Nation. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  6. ^ Carson Cistulli (August 10, 2018). "The Fringe Five: Baseball's Most Compelling Fringe Prospects". FanGraphs.com. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  7. ^ Chandler Rome (August 21, 2018). "Astros add pitcher Framber Valdez to 25-man roster". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  8. ^ Chandler Rome. "Framber Valdez helps lift Astros past Mariners in major league debut". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  9. ^ RotoWire Staff (October 2, 2019). "Astros' Framber Valdez: Not on playoff roster". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  10. ^ Jake Kaplan (June 13, 2019). "The hidden talent of Astros starter Framber Valdez". The Athletic. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  11. ^ "Framber Valdez stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
  12. ^ "2020 Houston Astros statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  13. ^ Van Doren, Kenny (October 8, 2020). "Astros: How Framber Valdez came to be a blossoming ace". Fansided. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  14. ^ "Astros' Framber Valdez: Shines in Game 1". CBS Sports. September 29, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  15. ^ "Surgery Recommended For Framber Valdez". MLB Trade Rumors.
  16. ^ a b "Framber Valdez Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
  17. ^ "Sweat, whistles and blinking lights: Red Sox broadcasters, fans accuse Astros Valdez, Alvarez of cheating in Game 5". khou.com. October 22, 2021.
  18. ^ McTaggart, Brian (October 20, 2021). "Framber's gem lifts Astros to cusp of pennant". MLB.com. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  19. ^ Kaplan, Jake (August 27, 2020). "Small sample or a breakout? What's different about Framber Valdez". The Athletic. Retrieved October 12, 2020.

External links[]

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