The Crawfish Boxes · Jun 6, 2022
Framber Valdez Has Taken The Next Step
The 2021 season was a bit of an up-and-down experience for Framber Valdez following his breakout during the abbreviated campaign in 2020. Thanks to a freak finger injury in Spring Training, the left-hander had a delayed start to his season; he also experienced a handful of bad outings in the postseason that was more akin to his pre-2020 performance. Sandwiched in between was a mix of quality starts with the occasional clunker. While the year-to-year change in his ERA hinted at improvement, some indicators pointed to Valdez experiencing his fair share of regression. While Valdez was a perfectly fine starting pitcher, it felt as if he didn’t reach the pinnacle of 2020.