Framber Valdez’s win at Seattle on Tuesday left him with 70 2⁄3 innings thrown in 2020, the same number he registered a year ago. He sealed that game with 7 frames of five-hit, one-run ball, no walks, and eight strikeouts. But besides that, it was a statement from him to Astros fans and coaching staff: He’s here to stay!
It takes no time to see a big gap in Valdez’s performance compared to last year’s.
He’s taken over a starter role and went from recording a 5.86 ERA to 3.57 in 2020. His FIP also got better in a big way as it fell from 4.