ANAHEIM, Calif. — Framber Valdez should have started the All-Star Game. When his bosses would not allow it, Valdez skipped the event altogether, authoring an awkward scene amid some boos on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park.
As the two attending Astros appeared during pregame introductions, FOX play-by-play man Joe Davis announced Valdez alongside them. No one in the Astros’ organization ever signaled that Valdez would not travel to the game, so his absence arrived as a surprise. Valdez heard the mishap while sitting at home and watching Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez take the field on television.
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On Friday afternoon at Angel Stadium, Valdez laughed about his incorrect inclusion. His absence from the game — and pointed comments before it — invited wonder whether anger had replaced honor in his All-Star selection. Friday quashed that narrative but did underscore the balance franchises must maintain between individual desires and team-wide objectives.
“I decided just to spend that time with my family,” Valdez said on Friday through an interpreter. “That was obviously going to be a stressful day, just doing a lot of different things, but I decided to take a mental break, physical break to enjoy it with my family. Second half, we still have a long way to go, and I decided just to rest.”
Twice in the last five months, the Astros have stopped Valdez from fulfilling the fantasies of every young player and taken away two opportunities that could only come once in his career.
In February, the team asked Valdez not to pitch in the World Baseball Classic. Valdez threw a career-high 201 1/3 regular-season innings in 2022. Twenty-five more came during Houston’s deep postseason run, including six in the team’s World Series-clinching win.
After such a heavy workload, discretion seemed logical, so Valdez obliged. Five of his teammates, including four fellow pitchers, played for Team Dominican Republic without him. It’s impossible to overstate how much pride many Latino players — including those in Houston’s clubhouse — took in playing for their countries.
“I want to do a lot of different things, but at the end of the day, the team is the people that make the decisions about what I can and can not do,” Valdez said on Friday through an interpreter. “Obviously if they tell me don’t do this, I’m not going to do it. I’m super grateful for the opportunity they’ve given me to be here, but at the end of the day, the team makes the final decision.”
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According to Valdez, Astros owner Jim Crane and general manager Dana Brown made the decision for him not to pitch in the All-Star Game. On the surface, Crane’s apparent involvement is curious, but his influence in baseball operations decisions has been huge since last season. And, well, he does own the team.
Astros manager Dusty Baker, who guided the American League team, always seemed hesitant to risk Valdez in the Midsummer Classic, especially after Valdez sprained his right ankle while climbing the dugout stairs during a June 20 start against the Mets.
“It’s one of those things, really, there wasn’t really much to argue when I was told the owner and (general manager) didn’t want me to pitch, there wasn’t really much that I could do there,” Valdez said. “I can tell you I really wasn’t that happy with the decision, but after that, I decided I was just going to go and prepare myself for the second half. Took a couple days, thought about it, and went on to prepare myself for the second half and rest of the way.”
Crane pays Baker and Brown to win pennants, not parade players around in exhibition games. Exercising extreme caution with Valdez is understandable, especially given the tenuous state of Houston’s starting rotation. Losing Valdez would double as a death knell to a team already without three of its most established starting pitchers.
“We can’t risk Framber on two or three days’ rest for an exhibition game,” Baker said on Sunday. “I know it’s important but our season is far more important than an All-Star game. It’s a tremendous honor to make the start, but if he keeps pitching on the road he’s on, he’ll have three or four opportunities to start in the future. Right now, we have to take care of Framber.”
Baker ultimately chose New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole to start for the American League in what amounted to a glorified nine-pitch bullpen session. Cole never threw harder than 94.9 mph and sat 94.4 mph with his four-seam fastball — 2.5 mph slower than his season average.
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Curiously, on Sunday, Baker also said Cole would not pitch in the All-Star Game. Like Valdez, Cole started his team’s penultimate game prior to the All-Star break. Cole threw 103 pitches. Valdez tossed 105 during a 3-2 win against the Mariners at Minute Maid Park, paring his ERA to a major-league low 2.51. Afterward, Valdez made his intentions clear.
“I think I’ve worked really hard to be able to start the All-Star Game,” Valdez told reporters after that start. “That being said, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to pitch in the All-Star Game. I really want to pitch that first inning. If I don’t get the opportunity maybe to do that, I probably wouldn’t pitch in this year’s All-Star Game.”
No pitcher on the American League roster had a better case to start the game than Valdez. He led all major-league starters with a 2.51 ERA during the first half. His 167 ERA+ was the highest among all American League starters. Part of Baker’s rationale in starting Cole involved his desire to start the game.
“A lot of guys, sometimes they might not want to pitch in this particular game,” Baker said in Seattle. “But he wanted to pitch. Hey man, if a guy like Gerrit Cole wants to pitch, I’ll let him pitch.”
The same can be said about Valdez, but Baker’s first priority is to protect his own team. The second is to listen to his bosses. He fulfilled both by making this decision, however convoluted the explanations may be.
Valdez has grander aspirations than appearing in two exhibition tournaments. He is a bona fide American League Cy Young candidate and has cemented himself as one of this team’s cornerstones.
Valdez will make two more trips through the arbitration process before entering free agency following the 2025 season. A lucrative payday awaits, as do more All-Star Game appearances and invitations to the World Baseball Classic. Perhaps then, he will be permitted to participate.
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Urquidy starts rehab assignment, Alvarez delayed
José Urquidy (shoulder) threw two innings during his first minor-league rehab appearance on Friday with Triple-A Sugar Land. Urquidy threw 22 of his 32 pitches for strikes, permitted two unearned runs and struck out two. His four-seam fastball averaged 94.3 mph. Urquidy will make at least three more appearances to build his pitch count.
Alvarez was supposed to join Urquidy on Friday in Sugar Land, but will have his rehab assignment delayed due to an “illness.” On Friday, Baker did not specify what ails Alvarez or offer a more clear timetable for his return.
(Photo of Framber Valdez: Kevin M. Cox / Associated Press)
