In general, the Houston Astros’ recent run of dominance has had several common threads. There are the mere results, which include numerous 100-win seasons and an annual FastPass to the American League Championship Series. There are the business aspects, which include burgeoning attendance and one of the top payrolls. There is Jose Altuve. There is Alex Bregman.
However, the crown jewel of this seven season run of Astros’ dominance has been the [itching, specifically the starting pitching, and even mroe specifically the presence of an ace-level hammer at the top of the rotation. Really, it goes back to Dallas Kuechel’s Cy Young winning season in 2015. From there, Kuehcel begat Verlander in 2017, who was joined by Gerrit Cole in 2018, with several other All Star caliber starters mixed in along the way.
Every season, it feels like there is at least one guy you can count on to bring the heat every start, end whatever losing streaks may occur, and strike fear into postseason opponents. Last season, Framber Valdez evolved into one of those guys alongside Verlander, and now, with Verlander a New York Met, Valdez is the unquestioned ace of the Astros staff.
That status was hammered home on Tuesday night, when Valdez was able to end the team’s five game losing streak with an eight inning gem against, of all teams, the Mets with Verlander on the mound. This season, Valdez is angling for his second All Star Game berth and a decent chance of starting for the American League on July 11 in Seattle.
To that end, here are four Framber-related stats (or packages of stats) that should enthrall you, if you’re a Houston Astros fan:
Since his quasi-meltdown against Toronto two weeks, Valdez has been amazing
Early on in his MLB career, it was fairly easy to rattle Valdez, who had a tough time controlling his emotions when things would go sideways during a start. With the help of a sports psychologist, Valdez has overcome those emotional swings. However, back on June 8, during a four game set against the Blue Jays, Valdez had a relapse, and was knocked out from his start, a listing effort, after five innings. In the two starts since, though, he’s shown that start was probably just a blip on the radar. In wins over the Nationals and Mets, here are Valdez’s numbers:
2-0 record (15 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 15 K)
1.80 ERA
0.667 WHIP
.397 OPS against
Order restored!
Valdez has been dominant this season against other aces, namely Justin Verlander and Shohei Ohtani
The most disastrous stretch of baseball for Valdez came in the 2021 World Series, when he was unable to make it through three innings in either of his two starts. Whatever that triggered in Valdez should be bottled up, because he’s been a monster in big games since. This season, that’s manifested itself in his three outings against Shohei Ohtani (twice) and Justin Verlander, where his numbers are as follows:
3-0 record (23 IP, 12 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 28K)
1.17 ERA
0.609 WHIP
10.96 K/9IP
Keep your aces, Angels and Mets (and everyone else), we’ve got Framber!
Framber Valdez is “Mr. Quality Start”
The “quality start” has become a popular stat in these parts, largely because of Valdez’s record streak of 25 consecutive quality starts last season. For the uninitiated, a quality start is a start of at least six innings, with a pitcher giving up no more than three earned runs. Over the last two seasons, 2022 and what’s been played in 2023, here are the quality start leaders in MLB:
Framber Valdez, HOU … 41
Shane Bieber, CLV … 34
Gerrit Cole, NYY … 34
Shane McClanahan, TB … 30
Chris Bassitt, NYM-TOR … 29
Add in three more quality starts last postseason (1.44 ERA, .493 OPS against), and Valdez is clearly the king of this stat.
This season, Framber is doing things only three other Astro legends have done
This one is courtesy of ESPN Stats & Info on Twitter:
What makes this so impressive is the list of Astros pitchers who have NOT done this, and yet Valdez HAS — Nolan Ryan, Mike Hampton, Roy Oswalt, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Dallas Kuechel, Gerrit Cole, and a few more I may be missing.
The message is clear — Houston, you undoubtedly have an ace.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
