ARLINGTON, Texas — From five days of debate and doubt emerged Framber Valdez, an indispensable piece of the Houston Astros attempting to alter whatever narrative surrounds him. Pleas to move past his cross-up of catcher César Salazar went unheeded by the baseball world outside of Houston.
Routine reigned inside the Astros’ clubhouse, which put the controversy in the past and prepared to back Valdez on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Field. Through an interpreter, Valdez said he did not address the team, but reiterated the incident with Salazar was a “bad moment” from which he took one lesson.
“I learned not to get frustrated, not go crazy and just focus on the next hitter and the next pitch I’m going to throw,” Valdez said through an interpreter after Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Texas Rangers.
“That was a priority for today. I was just trying to keep my focus no matter if they hit a home run or (got a) hit. I was trying to keep my focus to keep going on in the game.”
Doing so has been imperative for Valdez throughout his entire eight-year career. Now, it is perhaps the only way to squash whatever storylines still surround him. On Sunday, Valdez took an important first step. He supplied a vintage performance plagued by one bad pitch, enough to exceed the minuscule margin for error Houston’s lineup created for him.
The Astros’ offense supported Valdez with five hits, two runs and one hit in six at-bats with runners in scoring position. Houston has now scored three or fewer runs in 17 of its 35 games since the trade deadline.
Blame for Sunday’s loss starts there. It can be spread around, but Valdez should receive a scant amount. He met the definition of a quality start while showing flashes of the form Houston will need in its pursuit of a pennant.
“That was really good,” manager Joe Espada said. “That was a really good outing for him. He bounced back well and we need more of that going forward.”
Valdez allowed four two-out runs. Three were earned. The other scored in the second inning, when catcher Yainer Diaz could not corral a 1-2 changeup Jonah Heim swung through. Catching the third strike would’ve ended the inning.
Clanking it invited chaos. Diaz stumbled while retrieving the baseball as it bounced toward the backstop. His throw to first base hit Heim in the back. Dylan Moore managed to score from second base, spotting the Rangers a run they did not earn.
Valdez maintained his mettle and managed to execute his next pitch without incident. Michael Helman skied the sinker harmlessly to center field.
“There’s bad times and there’s good times in our lives,” Valdez said. “We learn from the bad times and just focus on going out there and give a good outing for a team.”
That Valdez even started on Sunday arrived as a surprise. Houston had listed Luis Garcia as its scheduled starter during the first two games of the series. Following Saturday’s 11-0 win, a team spokesman informed reporters of the rotation switch with an explanation of “that was the plan since Friday.”
On Sunday morning, Espada confirmed the team always intended to start Valdez and not Garcia. The manager insisted nothing is amiss with Garcia, who just returned from a 28-month absence while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. That Garcia is scheduled to start Tuesday’s series-opener against the Toronto Blue Jays lends credence to the claim.
It is unclear, though, why the correct rotation never appeared in any piece of team-issued paraphernalia on Friday or Saturday. Both teams listed Garcia as Sunday’s scheduled starter in their respective set of game notes. On Sunday morning, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters that he learned of Houston’s decision to start Valdez on Saturday night.
Valdez required just 61 pitches to procure his first 15 outs. Two groundball double plays extracted him from jams during the third and fourth innings, preserving his efficiency. Valdez generated 10 groundball outs during the six innings he worked.
No better indicator of success exists for Valdez. He commanded his sinker well on Sunday, but mixed in more of his changeup than is customary. Valdez’s curveball, elusive for so much of his inconsistent second half, only generated three whiffs on the 14 swings Texas took.
Yainer Diaz has caught 24 of Framber Valdez’s 28 starts this season. (Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)
“There’s just sometimes where it just doesn’t fall,” Valdez said. “Sometimes the windup is not right, but I’m just focusing on keeping on throwing it where I’m supposed to throw it.”
The curveball concluded an eight-pitch battle with Ezequiel Duran to start the sixth inning. Swinging through it turned Texas’ lineup over for a third time. Leadoff man Wyatt Langford loomed.
While Valdez battled him, the Rangers’ television broadcast began alternating camera shots of Valdez and Salazar. They showed the cross-up and continued discussing it. Valdez’s strikeout of Langford could interrupt — but not conclude — it, a portrait of the predicament Valdez may face for the remainder of this season.
Three consecutive hits followed Langford’s strikeout. The final one was fatal. Valdez misfired a middle-middle changeup to Jake Burger in a 1-1 count. Burger bludgeoned it 364 feet away to the opposite field for a two-run home run.
After it landed, Diaz jogged out for a meeting with Valdez. The battery worked together on Sunday for the 24th time in 28 starts. It is responsible for both of Valdez’s complete games and, after Sunday, a 3.43 ERA across 152 1/3 innings.
The meeting ended and Valdez returned to the mound. He raced ahead of Kyle Higashioka 0-2 before locating a better changeup. He chopped it to shortstop for a third out.
“I was more chill today,” Valdez said. “It has happened before where I’ve made an error. It was a bad pitch and he was able to hit it for a home run. But I was able to focus on getting that out and being able to go out in the next inning and be able to get those next three outs as well.”
(Top photo: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)