Framber Goes No No

The baseball community as a whole (including myself) needs to give Framber Valdez more credit. Personally I think he doesn’t get the love since he tends to be more of a grinder and not as flashy as other star pitchers. You know what? It does not matter…he gets results. Selected to be an All-Star in 2022 and 2023, Valdez has now established himself as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. Yesterday Valdez accomplished something that few have before. He threw a no-hitter. Since 1876 only 321 pitchers have thrown a no-hitter. Although this is not as rare as a perfect game, it is still a very impressive accomplishment. 

Valdez has arguably been the backbone of this Houston rotation over the past few years. Since 2020 his average ERA is a 3.15 and owns a 9.05 SO/9 ratio. These are the numbers of a true ace pitcher yet he really hasn’t ever been considered the ace in this rotation. Consistency and a nasty five pitch arsenal consisting of a Sinker, Curveball, Cutter, Changeup & a 4-Seam Fastball is the name of the game for Valdez. 

The Sinker has always been his most thrown and signature pitch yet this season he is seeing both his Cutter and Curveball have Whiff% > 40.8% which is spectacular. The 29 year old is really coming into his own as he enters Year 3 of Arbitration. I do think the Astros will sign him to an extension at some point this off-season as he truly has earned it. Just take a look at his numbers below both from 2023 and over the course of his career and you will realize that Houston has a special pitcher here. Looking forward to seeing Framber continue to dominate as long as it is not against my Yankees!

2023:

9-7 | 3.07 ERA | 135 IP | 141 K | 33 BB | 9.4 SO/9 | 1.074 WHIP

Career: 

50-30 | 3.31 ERA | 649.1 IP | 638 K | 242 BB | 8.8 SO/9 | 1.215 WHIP

Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox)(Kevin M. Cox / ASSOCIATED PRESS)