FRAMBER VALDEZ NEWS

MLB season preview: Staff predictions on MVP, Cy Young, ROY, World Series

With the 2023 MLB season commencing, who's going to win MVP? Cy Young? Rookie of the Year? The World Series? Our staff experts make their pi...

MARCH 30, 2023

Astros and White Sox square off for season opener

The Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox in the season opener

MARCH 29, 2023 • ASSOCIATED PRESS

White Sox-Astros Opening Day starting pitchers: Cease vs. Valdez A pair of top five finishers in the 2022 American League Cy Young race -- lefty Framber Valdez of the Astros and right-hander Dylan Cease of...

MARCH 24, 2023 • MLB.COM

Officially starting Opening Day Valdez will start Opening Day versus the White Sox on Thursday, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Impact Valdez will toe the rubber for the Astros' season opener as they head to Chicago for the first weekend of the year. The left-hander skipped the WBC after he came to an agreement with Houston to do so and in turn, that likely made him the top choice to start Thursday. Valdez produced an impressive 2.82 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with 194 strikeouts over 201.1 innings in 31 starts last season, and he could step right into the Astros' ace role with Justin Verlander now a member of the Mets.

MARCH 24, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Likely Opening Day starter Valdez is likely to start for the Astros on Opening Day, Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Impact Manager Dusty Baker hasn't made an official announcement, but he did tell reporters Saturday that Valdez will "probably" take the mound on Opening Day. Valdez also drew the assignment in 2022, and he delivered throughout the season by posting an exceptional 2.82 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 194:67 K:BB across 201.1 innings. Even if another Astros starter gets the call for the first game, Valdez will almost certainly start at some point during the team's opening series against the White Sox.

MARCH 19, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Valdez builds OD case; Lee plays first base WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- While a handful of his fellow Dominican teammates and friends are representing their country in the World Baseball...

MARCH 13, 2023 • MLB.COM

Sharp outing by top starters fuels Astros' rotation hopes JUPITER, Fla. -- In the early days of Spring Training, Astros manager Dusty Baker noticed something different about his left-handed ace Fram...

MARCH 2, 2023 • MLB.COM

World Baseball Classic 2023 odds: Dominican Republic favorite to win it all

With a key player opting out for Team USA, the Dominican Republic is the new WBC pretournament betting favorite at FOX Bet.

MARCH 2, 2023

No pressure: Valdez ready to be Astros' ace WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The departure of Justin Verlander to the Mets during the winter cemented Astros left-hander Framber Valdez as the a...

FEBRUARY 21, 2023 • MLB.COM

New Astros GM Dana Brown hopes for more long-term contracts

New Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown hopes some of Cristian Javier’s teammates follow the pitcher’s example and agree to longterm contracts

FEBRUARY 16, 2023 • ASSOCIATED PRESS

Skipping WBC Astros general manager Dana Brown announced Wednesday that Valdez won't pitch for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle repor...

Impact Valdez and the Astros agreed to have the southpaw sit out the WBC after he pitched a career-high 201.1 innings in 2022, nearly 65 more frames than his previous career high of 134.2 set in 2021. The 29-year-old was outstanding during Houston's championship 2022 season, producing a 2.82 ERA, 194:67 K:BB and 1.15 WHIP. With Justin Verlander leaving for the Mets this offseason, Valdez should be in contention for the Astros' Opening Day nod.

FEBRUARY 8, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

Mets, Yankees headline Ben Verlander's top-five starting rotations

Amid all the major pitching moves this winter, Ben Verlander ranks the five best starting rotations heading into the 2023 MLB season.

JANUARY 16, 2023

33 players left in arbitration as 170 reach agreements

A total of 170 major league players agreed to contracts in the hours before Friday night’s arbitration deadline to exchange proposed salaries with teams, and just one reached a mul...

JANUARY 14, 2023 • ASSOCIATED PRESS

Agrees to terms for 2023 Valdez signed a one-year, $6.8 million contract with the Astros on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Impact Coming off the heels of a 2.82 ERA, 1.16 WHIP season, Valdez earned himself a $3.8 million pay raise from last year after playing a big part in the Astros' title run. The 29-year-old southpaw has never been known to rack up strikeouts like other aces, though it's hard to argue with the results he's produced over the past few years.

JANUARY 14, 2023 • ROTOWIRE

4 Astros rack up more hardware on All-MLB First Team SAN DIEGO -- The awards continue to mount for the World Series champion Astros, who had six players voted onto the All-MLB Team, including f...

DECEMBER 6, 2022 • MLB.COM

New Marlins assistant GM Oz Ocampo sees Miami's potential

Oz Ocampo already sees a similarity between the Miami Marlins and the two teams that just played in the World Series

NOVEMBER 10, 2022 • ASSOCIATED PRESS

Astros Pitcher Ties Dodgers Legend Sandy Koufax's World Series Stat For the first time since 1963, Framber Valdez was able to strike out five consecutive batters during the World Series.

NOVEMBER 6, 2022 • STAR-TELEGRAM.COM

The Pulse: Astros dynasty talk, MLS fireworks and a Playoff picture shakeup Framber Valdez shut down the Phillies lineup and Yordan Alvarez hit a baseball to the moon.

NOVEMBER 6, 2022 • THEATHLETIC.COM

Man on a mission: Framber rebounds from '21 with airtight WS HOUSTON -- A leadoff walk was promptly erased by a double play, which is about the most Framber Valdez way to start Game 6 of the World Seri...

NOVEMBER 6, 2022 • MLB.COM

2022 World Series: Ben Verlander's takeaways from Astros' Game 6 win

The Astros are World Series champs again after toppling the Phillies in Game 6. Here are Ben Verlander's takeaways from the clincher.

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

Carries Houston to World Series win Valdez pitched six innings and earned the win during Saturday's 4-1 victory over the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striki...

Impact The only blemish on the night for Valdez came on a solo home run from Kyle Schwarber in the top of the sixth inning. The southpaw's sinker was electric in Game 6 -- of the nine outs from balls in play, his sinker forced six ground outs. The other nine outs came from strikeouts, the third consecutive game for Valdez with nine punchouts. The 28-year-old finished the postseason 3-0 with a stellar 1.44 ERA and 33 strikeouts across 25 innings. Valdez was arguably the best pitcher on the Houston staff and a major contributor to their postseason success.

NOVEMBER 6, 2022 • ROTOWIRE

2022 World Series: Astros beat Phillies to claim World Series title

The Astros defeated the Phillies 4-1 in Game 6, claiming their first World Series title since 2017. Here are the top plays!

NOVEMBER 6, 2022

Alvarez blasts Baker, Astros to World Series title vs Phils

Yordan Alvarez hit a towering three-run homer and the Houston Astros clinched their second World Series title in six seasons with a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6

NOVEMBER 6, 2022 • ASSOCIATED PRESS