15-Day IL
Injury Elbow
Est. Return 4/23/2024
2024 Stats
W-L
0-0
ERA
2.19
WHIP
1.38
K
10
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Valdez has worked the fifth-most innings of any starting pitcher over the past two seasons trailing only Alcantara, Cole, Webb, and Mikolas. The lefty has returned three consecutive seasons of double digit wins, strong ratios, and a voluminous strikeout total and even threw in a no-hitter this season against Cleveland. Valdez was 9-7 with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP after completing that no-hitter on August 1st but was just 3-4 with a 4.29 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP from then on, which does not even include his very disappointing postseason where he allowed 12 earned runs and lost all three of his starts. Valdez absolutely brings the volume you want from a high-draft pick/cost starting pitcher, but he lacks the elite velocity or K-BB% that fantasy managers like to see from foundational pitchers. His extreme groundball tendencies minmize some of that risk, and the run support in Houston continues to be plentiful. 2022 was his peak, but something between it and 2023 is very possible. Read Past Outlooks
Plays catch Monday
Valdez (elbow) played some light catch Monday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
He had been slated to play catch Tuesday, but evidently the decision was made to move it up a day. Valdez is on the injured list with left elbow inflammation but is hopeful that he can return when first eligible April 23. It's possible, though he certainly has more work to do first before he can reach that goal.
He had been slated to play catch Tuesday, but evidently the decision was made to move it up a day. Valdez is on the injured list with left elbow inflammation but is hopeful that he can return when first eligible April 23. It's possible, though he certainly has more work to do first before he can reach that goal.
Pitching Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
86
Last 10 Games
86
Last 5 Games
86
How many pitches does Framber Valdez generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Framber Valdez generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-10%
BAA vs LHP
2024
-6%
BAA vs LHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2022vs Left | .207 | 83 | 30 | 54 | 6 | |||
| Since 2022vs Right | .230 | 321 | 100 | 289 | 24 | |||
| 2024vs Left | .250 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2024vs Right | .265 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2023vs Left | .220 | 45 | 14 | 27 | 5 | |||
| 2023vs Right | .230 | 155 | 43 | 139 | 14 | |||
| 2022vs Left | .192 | 36 | 14 | 25 | 1 | |||
| 2022vs Right | .229 | 158 | 53 | 141 | 10 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-15%
ERA on Road
2024
-100%
ERA on Road
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2022Home | 3.36 | 1.16 | 200.2 | 9.7 | 2.5 | ||||
| Since 2022Away | 2.86 | 1.14 | 211.0 | 8.0 | 3.2 | ||||
| 2024Home | 2.19 | 1.38 | 12.1 | 7.3 | 4.4 | ||||
| 2024Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2023Home | 3.35 | 1.05 | 102.0 | 9.4 | 1.8 | ||||
| 2023Away | 3.56 | 1.21 | 96.0 | 8.7 | 3.5 | ||||
| 2022Home | 3.54 | 1.26 | 86.1 | 10.4 | 3.1 | ||||
| 2022Away | 2.27 | 1.08 | 115.0 | 7.4 | 2.9 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Framber Valdez compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
1.67K/9
7.3BB/9
4.4HR/9
0.0Fastball
94.2 mphERA
2.19WHIP
1.38BABIP
.307GB/FB
0.00Left On Base
82.4%Swinging Strike
9.9%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Framber Valdez See More
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An early look at leaguewide power and speed numbers suggests that both could be down slightly this year compared to 2023.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Possible trade candidate?
Chandler Rome of The Athletic suggests the Astros could listen to trade offers for Valdez this offseason.
ANALYSIS
Rome notes that "there is no indication" the Astros are discussing such a scenario at this time, but they'll likely have to free up money in some fashion if they want to eventually work out contract extensions with Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve and Kyle Tucker. Valdez -- and fellow pitcher Jose Urquidy -- would seem to be more expendable than Houston's top-tier position players. In a market that is short on supply but high on demand for reliable arms, general manager Dana Brown might at least explore the possibility of dealing away a piece of the rotation.
Rome notes that "there is no indication" the Astros are discussing such a scenario at this time, but they'll likely have to free up money in some fashion if they want to eventually work out contract extensions with Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve and Kyle Tucker. Valdez -- and fellow pitcher Jose Urquidy -- would seem to be more expendable than Houston's top-tier position players. In a market that is short on supply but high on demand for reliable arms, general manager Dana Brown might at least explore the possibility of dealing away a piece of the rotation.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Valdez was one of just eight hurlers to log at least 200 innings as his 201.1 frames was the fifth most in MLB. He fell six strikeouts short of 200, but as an extreme groundball pitcher, Valdez is more concerned about minimizing barrels which he did, landing in the 75th percentile. Valdez threw his sinker half the time, followed by a 90th percentile spin rate curve. He introduced a cutter (which some classified as a slider), throwing it 10% of the time with a solid 18% swinging strike rate. Further refinement of Valdez's repertoire could improve his 23.5% strikeout rate, but he's likely more focused on improving on last season's 8.1% walk rate. Valdez doesn't fan ample batters to be a fantasy ace, but his volume of innings keeps the raw total sufficient for the next tier. Valdez is a bit of a WHIP risk as grounders often inflate BABIP, but they also limit homers, hence keeping ERA in check.
More Fantasy News
Set to throw Tuesday
Valdez (elbow) said he's scheduled to play catch Tuesday and hopes to return from the 15-day injured list when first eligible, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Could play catch soon
Astros manager Joe Espada said Thursday that Valdez (elbow) is feeling better and could play catch within the next few days, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
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Lands on injured list
Valdez was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with left elbow inflammation, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
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Getting sore elbow checked out
Valdez was scratched ahead of his scheduled start Monday against the Rangers after experiencing soreness in the top of his left elbow after playing catch, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
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Not starting Monday
Valdez will not start Monday's game against the Rangers, Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 Houston reports.
ANALYSIS
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