Framber Valdez Stats
- Height / Weight
- 5' 11" / 230 lbs.
- Date of Birth (Age)
- 11/19/1993 (30)
- Experience
- 6
- College
- None
Framber Valdez Season Stats
Last 10 Games
Framber Valdez News
Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez (elbow) will come off the injured list and start on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies in Mexico City, according to manager Joe Espada. On the surface, the matchup against the Rockies is excellent. However, there are a couple reasons why fantasy managers should be hesitant to quickly throw the 30-year-old southpaw back into their starting lineups immediately. First off, Valdez has been on the injured list since April 9 with inflammation in his left elbow. Second, he's going to return to the big-league rotation without making a minor-league rehab start, which means he'll likely be limited from a pitch-count perspective. And third, he'll be extra shaky in the thin air in Mexico City.
Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez (elbow) threw 40 pitches in a bullpen session on Tuesday at Wrigley Field and is expected to come off the injured list and start one of the team's games in Mexico City against the Colorado Rockies this weekend. Right-hander Ronel Blanco will start the other game. The 30-year-old Valdez was put on the 15-day injured list on April 9 with left-elbow inflammation. The fact that he's not going to pitch in a minor-league rehab game before returning to the major-league starting rotation should have fantasy managers hesitant to use him in his first start back from the IL, even if the matchup is a juicy one against the Rockies away from Coors Field. The two-time All-Star should still be rostered in all fantasy leagues and was looking good in his first two starts of 2024 before going on the shelf.
Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez (elbow) will throw a bullpen session with the team in Chicago this week and he could start one of the two games against the Colorado Rockies in Mexico City, either this Saturday or Sunday, according to manager Joe Espada. The 30-year-old southpaw was able to throw a 30-pitch bullpen session last Saturday, which was his first time throwing off a mound since left-elbow inflammation landed him on the injured list on April 9. Whether Valdez is able to make his return and start this weekend against the Rockies will be determined by how he looks in his next bullpen session this week. Even though the Rockies are a very enticing matchup, Valdez would be a shaky fantasy play in the altitude in Mexico City if he's activated for a start this weekend.
Batting Order
1 | Jose Altuve |
2 | Alex Bregman |
3 | Yordan Alvarez |
4 | Kyle Tucker |
5 | Yainer Diaz |
6 | Jeremy Peña |
7 | Jon Singleton |
8 | Chas McCormick |
9 | Mauricio Dubón |
Framber Valdez Stats
Last 10 Games
Batting Order
1 | Jose Altuve |
2 | Alex Bregman |
3 | Yordan Alvarez |
4 | Kyle Tucker |
5 | Yainer Diaz |
6 | Jeremy Peña |
7 | Jon Singleton |
8 | Chas McCormick |
9 | Mauricio Dubón |
Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez makes his living getting hitters to swing into ground balls. He did that again in 2023 (only San Francisco Giants right-hander Logan Webb had a higher groundball rate than Valdez's 54.2%), but that was a 12-percentage point drop from his 66% in 2022. Fewer ground balls meant more fly balls and home runs. His flyball rate jumped to 25%, accompanying a 37.4% hard-hit rate that was seven percentage points higher than in 2022. What Valdez will be looking to do in 2024 is return to the 100th percentile, elite levels of inducing grounders. In 2022, Valdez was 17-6 with a 2.82 ERA and was top five in Cy Young voting. Despite how he regressed, Valdez did have a career-high 200 strikeouts last season and struck out more than a batter per inning. If he can put that strikeout rate with the 2022 ground ball rate, this could be a Cy Young winner, considering the strong offense he has at his back. Valdez is currently the 20th pitcher off the board in drafts, but give me his track record over more inconsistent pitchers like Freddy Peralta and Tarik Skubal. ATC projects Valdez with a 3.46 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and a 9.09 K:9 across 198 innings in 2024, making him a solid pick at his current NFBC ADP of 62.