Framber

Valdez

A complete game! And Valdez was fortunate to be credited with one because this game was knotted at one with two outs in the ninth inning before Yainer Diaz hit a walk-off homer. The Astros also scratched across a run in the eighth on a throwing error from Curtis Mead. He did only have 83 pitches to his ledger though, so it’s likely he would’ve come back out for the 10th inning. Funny enough, the only run he allowed was off a lead-off home run by José Caballero. After that, he retired 27 of the 30 hitters he faced for the rest of the game. In classic Valdez fashion, 15 of the 19 balls in play by Rays were on the ground as he threw maybe five total pitches above the belt in this game. All in all, it was a tremendous, old-school start by the talented left-hander. His next start is scheduled to come against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

After a clean first inning, a triple and a groundout put the Mariners on the board with a run in the second. That would be all Seattle to do against Valdez. He settled in for four more scoreless frames, scattering four hits and four walks with five strikeouts. The 31-year-old southpaw will take a 3.39 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and a 64/23 K/BB ratio across 69 innings into a start against the Rays in Houston on Friday.

The left-hander struck out eight and walked just one on the day with a 24 percent whiff rate and 32 percent CSW. All of the damage came in the fourth inning, when Valdez allowed three runs on four hits. Valdez is putting together another solid, if unspectacular, season as the rock of the Houston rotation. He gets a tough start against a surging Mariners offense next week.

The Astros are moving on from their six-man rotation and Valdez will get the start. Those signs were on the table with Ryan Gusto working a scoreless inning Saturday, but it’s now confirmed. It’s good news for fantasy managers who want more counting stats from Valdez, and that should be everyone.

The Astros are apparently abandoning their six-man rotation for now. Gusto would have been in line to start Sunday, but that’s not happening after his mop-up appearance tonight. Instead of being held back until Monday, Framber Valdez now seems set to face the Rangers.

Valdez gave up six hits, walked one and struck out seven. The 31-year-old left-hander has now allowed two runs or less in four of his last five starts. Valdez had a 4.91 ERA in his first four starts of the season, but has since turned the page. He only has two wins this year, but that should also turn around given that he works deep into games. Valdez has a 51/18 K/BB ratio, 57 percent ground ball percentage and 3.33 xFIP in nine starts this year. He’s lined up to start again Sunday against the Rangers on the road.

Eric Haase’s fifth-inning homer accounted for Milwaukee’s lone run today. Valdez struck out seven and walked two in winning for the first time since Opening Day. It’s his fifth quality start in eight tries, but today’s game was the first of those eight in which the Astros totaled more than three runs. Valdez will face the Royals next week.

Gusto has looked outstanding this season in his first big-league opportunity, recording a strong 3.00 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 29/6 K/BB ratio across 27 innings in eight appearances. The Astros are going to skip his next start on Tuesday against the Brewers with Lance McCullers Jr. (elbow) rejoining the rotation, but he’ll be available in a bulk relief capacity over the next few days. It’ll be Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski and Framber Valdez starting the three games against Milwaukee. He figures to take the ball at some point later next week after Houston transitions back to a six-man rotation.

This was not the start Valdez envisioned having against the lowly White Sox. It took him 42 pitches to get through the first two innings where he gave up five hits and two runs in the process. Then it seemed like he was settling in before a two-out rally from the White Sox in the fifth plated two more runs and effectively ended Valdez’s outing. He struggled to spot both his curveball and changeup which made it difficult for him to put hitters away and his sinker velocity was down over a tick. That’s a bit worrisome and should be monitored. His next start is scheduled to come against the Brewers.

It’s just the third complete game by a pitcher this season and first that wasn’t a shutout victory (Nathan Eovaldi and Michael King got those). Valdez now has eight career complete games, three of which have been shutouts. That puts him tied for seventh in compete games among active pitchers, and he might rate first or second (Sandy Alcantara has 12) in a few years once the old guard retires. He’ll face the White Sox next, making number nine a realistic possibility.