Framber Valdez pitched three scoreless innings in his Detroit Tigers debut on Monday, reuniting with former teammate Jake Rogers. The pair, who first worked together in the Astros' minor leagues nine years ago, faced the Atlanta Braves in spring training. Valdez threw strikes efficiently, drawing praise from Rogers for his development and work ethic.
In Lakeland, Florida, at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, Framber Valdez took the mound for the Tigers against the Braves. The left-handed sinkerballer, recently acquired by Detroit, delivered three scoreless innings, allowing three baserunners on ground balls.
Nine years earlier, Valdez and Rogers were prospects in the Houston Astros organization, throwing and catching in Buies Creek, North Carolina, at the High-A affiliate. They shared time in 2016 and 2017, with Rogers in his first full professional season. Valdez advanced to Double-A Corpus Christi midseason that year, while Rogers was traded to the Tigers at the end of August in exchange for Justin Verlander.
Until this debut, their major league encounters had been as opponents. "It was definitely special," Valdez said through translator Carla Diaz. "It was a flashback to [our] Minor League days. To be able to throw to him today was definitely something special."
Rogers echoed the sentiment. "We had a really good time when we were together in ’16 and ’17," he said. "He was one of the first guys when I got into pro ball that was hard to catch, and it was just because he was so nasty and his stuff moved everywhere."
Valdez's performance included stranding Brewer Hicklen at second base in the second inning by freezing Brett Wisely on a 95 mile-per-hour sinker for a called third strike and fanning Jose Azocar on a curveball. In the third, after Jim Jarvis reached on an error by Eduardo Valencia, Valdez induced three groundouts in eight pitches.
He threw 30 of 43 pitches for strikes, with five called strikes and five whiffs, three off the curveball. "Honestly, my plan today was just to throw strikes," Valdez said. "I felt comfortable with the curveball today."
The Atlanta lineup featured prospects around All-Star and Gold Glove catcher Jonah Heim, including Aaron Schunk, who singled to third. Rogers praised Valdez's growth: "It's kind of cool to see him grow from afar, and being able to catch him now is just really cool. He's awesome, and I truly have nothing bad to say about Framber."
Rogers addressed past questions about Valdez's catcher relationships, following a cross-up with Astros catcher César Salazar last year, but noted no issues in their minor league days. "He’s awesome," Rogers said. "Truly he is one of the craziest workhorses I’ve ever seen in my life. He has his blinders on and when he gets going and he’s in the zone, he’s one of the best pitchers there is."
Valdez described Rogers as having the "same personality" without translation.
