Valdez wants to gorge on innings
One of MLB’s most durable starters in recent years intends to reach 200 mark this season
JUPITER, Fla. — Framber Valdez represents durability in a rotation that requires it. No team has received more innings from its starting pitchers over the last three seasons than the Astros. Houston ranked first or second in rotation innings in each of those seasons, a result first-year manager Joe Espada doesn’t envision changing, even with a fortified back end of his bullpen.
“That’s part of our DNA,” Espada said Sunday. “Our starting pitching taking us deep in the ballgame, keeping us in the game, and then handing the ball off to the relievers, game close or with the lead. We’re not abandoning that approach.”
Circumstances could, at least, test it. The Astros will begin this season without ace Justin Verlander and possibly without José Urquidy, whom Espada described earlier in camp as a “big piece” of their rotation plan, and could lean initially on several starters with shorter track records. Hunter Brown and J.P. France are entering their sophomore seasons. Ronel Blanco has pitched primarily in relief in his career.
Valdez cannot consume their innings but, along with Cristian Javier, looms as a key to lending stability to Houston’s rotation amid its absences. Only four major league starters have worked more regular-season innings than Valdez over the past two years. Such reliability can have a ripple effect, preserving relievers and providing the blueprint for how Espada hopes to deploy his bullpen.
“I feel responsible regardless of the situation the team is in right now, whether everybody is healthy or not,” Valdez said Sunday through an interpreter. “As soon as I came up to the majors, that was the responsibility that I felt. Throw a lot of innings, get a lot of outs, and that’s always been the same thing for me.”
Valdez has thrown 399 ⁄3 1 innings over the past two seasons, plus an additional 442⁄3 playoff innings. Factoring in postseasons, the lefthander has logged the second-most innings in the majors in that span (444), after the Phillies’ Aaron Nola (447⁄ ).
Two years ago, Valdez threw an American League-leading 201⁄3 1 innings en route to a top-five finish in Cy Young voting. He totaled 198 innings last season and tied with three others for the third-most quality starts (20) among AL pitchers. He said Sunday the 200-inning benchmark is an objective again this year.
“Yeah, that’s the goal for me,” Valdez said. “Obviously, it would be an accomplishment as well. That’s the goal: Get 200 innings.”
Valdez will begin his 2024 campaign on opening day against the Yankees. He made his third Grapefruit League start this spring Sunday and worked four-plus innings against the Cardinals, increasing his pitch count to 82. Valdez projects for one more spring training start before he opposes the Yankees’ Nester Cortes on March 28 in Houston.
His line Sunday was uneven. Valdez allowed four runs and six hits, including a home run hit by St. Louis’ Dylan Carlson. He walked two batters and struck out eight. Valdez induced just two ground-ball outs, an unusual result for the sinkerballer. He said afterward he felt “all my pitches were working” and that his “pitches are at the point where I want them to be.”
“I think I’m executing them for the most part,” Valdez said. “Out of every 10 pitches that I throw, maybe I don’t execute one. And I try to take the good more than the bad. So I think my pitches are good. I feel good mentally. I feel good physically.”
Valdez threw just three cutters in his start, which he attributed to “trying just to throw it when I needed to throw it.” He induced misses on four of eight swings against his changeup. Espada said Valdez buried his sinker “at times” but also elevated it on occasion.
“His stuff was really good,” Espada said. “We’ve just got to do a little better job overall at kind of putting people away after we get ahead in the count. But I thought his stuff was really good.”
Valdez exited a busy second inning with two outs and returned for the third under spring training rules. He threw 49 of 82 pitches for strikes. Valdez said getting close to the 100-pitch mark before spring ends should “give me the stamina to be ready for the season.”
Odds and ends
José Abreu played in his first Grapefruit League game since March 7, due to knee soreness, and hit a home run in his first at-bat Sunday. Abreu started at DH and was 2-for-3 with a walk. “At first I was a little bit scared to hurt it again and have a setback, but it feels good,” Abreu said of his knee through an interpreter. … Verlander threw a light bullpen session Sunday. Espada said that if Verlander responds well, he’ll face hitters in live batting practice his next time on the mound. …
Urquidy underwent an MRI on his sore elbow in Houston; the Astros were awaiting results as of Sunday morning. … Javier will start the Astros’ second regular-season game against the Yankees; Espada said the rotation is not set beyond that.