It is rare to see the Houston Astros in such disarray this close to October.
Yet, in a sign that things may again in fact be different this year, the Astros were at the forefront of a potential conspiracy after left-hander Framber Valdez appeared to cross up catcher Cesar Salazar on purpose during the fifth inning of their 7-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
The loss was Houston’s ninth in its past 16 games, and the Astros, whose torrid June put them atop the AL West by as many as seven games, fell to 21-28 in their past 49 games.
The Astros still lead the AL West by three games over the second-place Seattle Mariners but hold just a 4.5-game advantage over the third-place Texas Rangers with 23 games left.
Did Framber Valdez Cross Up His Catcher On Purpose?
Trailing 2-0, after allowing a two-run home run to Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., Valdez was on the verge of pitching out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the fifth inning after he struck out Giancarlo Stanton.
But with surprising Yankees slugger Trent Grisham at the plate, and a 1-0 count, Salazar motioned Valdez to step off the mound before he dealt a 95mph sinker that Grisham deposited into the Crawford boxes for a grand slam — and his 29th homer of the year.
“I wanted to throw a sinker.â Salazar, said according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic, who reported the catcher wanted Valdez to step off the mound because he “thought we had less time [on pitch clock] than we actually did.”
Yet, the controversy arose when, with Anthony Volpe at the plate for New York, Valdez hurled a 90mph sinker that hit Salazar in the chest. Valdez turned his back to the catcher after the pitch and did not check on his catcher — though Valdez blamed the noise made by Yankees fans after Grisham’s homer.
âIt was not intentional,â Valdez said through an interpreter. âI called for a sinker, and thatâs the pitch I wanted. There was a lot of noise and I thought that was what he wanted me to throw, but no it was not intentional.
“He called for the curveball, and I didnât hear it because of the noise. When I realized that he didnât want that, it was too late and I was already in my throwing motion. It was totally my fault in that case.”
Salazar also took the heat for his pitcher’s gaffe.
“Heat of the moment got to us,” Salazar said. “He apologized after. Heâs great. There wasnât anything bad about it. I just pressed the wrong button and I was expecting another pitch.”
Rome reported Valdez and Salazar got together with Houston manager Joe Espada to iron out any potential kinks — after the game where Valdez finished with a five-inning, eight-hit, six-run, eight-strikeout performance that dropped him to 12-8 on the year.
“Heâs my teammate. Heâs always here for me,” Valdez said. “I donât ever want to cause any harm to my teammate. It was something that I excused myself with. I (got) crossed up by mistake and I hit him by mistake.”
What Is Going On With Framber Valdez?
On July 28, Valdez was 11-4 and with a 2.62 ERA and was a Cy Young candidate. Yet, he is in a tailspin over his past six starts, going 1-4 with a 6.37 ERA in that span.
Yet, aside from his recent struggles, Rome also noted Valdez’s less-than-sunny reactions to plays made behind him, which has prompted at least one other closed-door meeting this year.
“Valdez already questioned his teamâs defensive positioning once this season, prompting another closed-door conversation with Espada,” Rome reported. “The 31-year-old southpaw is also prone to visceral reactions toward plays that arenât made behind him.”
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