Astros Are Back: Framber Valdez Proves Groundballs Can Be Just as Sexy as Strikeouts
The ace of the Houston Astros staff was on the mound in Game 2 of the World Series.
All due respect to Justin Verlander, who is likely headed for his third career Cy Young Award and is a lock to take his place in Cooperstown once he calls it a career, but after his Game 1 dud it became abundantly clear that the present and future of the Houston rotation is Framber Valdez.
The left-hander was brilliant on Saturday night, allowing just four hits in 6.1 innings while racking up nine strikeouts and allowing a single run that scored on a sacrifice fly after he departed in the seventh inning.
The Astros spotted him three runs in the bottom of the first, and that was more than enough run support in a 5-2 victory.
Now the series shifts to Philadelphia, and while the Phillies managed to steal Game 1 in Houston, it still feels like the Astros are in the driver's seat with the one-two punch of Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler now out of the equation for the next two games.
Framber Valdez Has Been This Good All Season
For those of you who haven't been dialed into Houston Astros baseball all season, Saturday's start by Valdez was nothing out of the ordinary.
The 28-year-old teased frontline potential the past two seasons, but his 2021 ended on a sour note when he was shelled in Game 1 (2.0 IP, 8 H, 5 ER) and Game 5 (2.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER) of the World Series against the Atlanta Braves.
This season, he officially took that next step forward.
He finished 17-6 with a 2.82 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 194 strikeouts, earning his first All-Star selection in the process, and while those surface-level numbers are great they only tell part of the story.
He also led the AL in quality starts (27), complete games (3), shutouts (1) and innings pitched (201.1), tossing a full 26.1 more innings than Verlander. He rattled off a streak of 25 straight quality starts at one point to set the single-season record.
As usual, his ability to keep the ball on the ground was a key to his success in Game 2. He induced nine ground ball outs against zero fly ball outs. That included a pair of double play balls to erase two of the six base-runners he allowed, one of which came off the bat of Bryce Harper with two runners on and one out in the sixth inning.
A busy night for the infielders was nothing new. His 66.5 percent groundball rate led all qualified pitchers during the regular season by nearly 10 percent over San Francisco Giants right-hander Logan Webb (56.7 percent), who checked in second on that list.
He may be able to touch 97 mph with his fastball, but Valdez is an old-school pitcher in many ways. He's a reliable workhorse who keeps hitters off balance with spin and prioritizes keeping the ball on the ground. That's the type of skill-set that ages well, and he checks all the boxes to be a staple atop the Houston rotation for years to come.
José Altuve is Back!
José Altuve is one of the most prolific hitters in MLB postseason history.
His 23 career playoff home runs trail only Manny Ramirez (29) on the all-time list, and he entered the 2022 postseason with a .286/.361/.547 line in 363 plate appearances.
Anyone watching the Astros for the first time this October would never believe those numbers were true.
The eight-time All-Star went an unfathomable 0-for-25 to begin this year's postseason run, the longest slump of his MLB career. Even after finally getting a few hits, he was still 4-for-40 with 12 strikeouts when he dug into the batter's box to lead off the bottom of the first on Saturday.
With one swing of that bat, all of that was seemingly erased.
The first pitch he saw was a 96 mph sinker from Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, and he turned it around for a double down the left field line.
Jeremy Pena followed suit with a first-pitch double of his own, and Yordan Alvarez made it three in a row with a shot off the left field wall. Four pitches into the bottom of the first and the Astros had what proved to be an insurmountable 2-0 lead.
He finished 3-for-4, adding a pair of singles in the fifth and seventh, and that may be just the spark he needs to be a major factor the rest of the way.
The Astros are simply a different team when Altuve is effectively setting the table.
During the regular season, they were 26-18 (.591) in games where he went hitless, compared to 70-27 (.722) when he tallied at least one hit.
What's Next for the Astros and Phillies?
After a travel day on Sunday, play will resume on Monday night from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
The Astros will hand the ball to Lance McCullers Jr. who pitched a gem in his ALDS start (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER) but was shaky at best in his ALCS outing (5.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER), so it remains to be seen what can be expected from him.
The difference is the depth the Astros have behind McCullers.
If he gets into trouble and makes an early exit in Game 3, they can turn to Luis García (28 GS, 3.72 ERA, 157.1 IP) or José Urquidy (28 GS, 3.94 ERA, 164.1 IP) to chew up innings out of the bullpen.
Meanwhile, the Phillies will hand the ball to Noah Syndergaard in Game 3, though it will likely be an all-hands-on-deck bullpen game. He was yanked after three innings of one-hit ball in Game 4 of the NLDS.
An early exit would mean a taxing day for the bullpen, which would in turn put even more pressure on Ranger Suárez in Game 4. The left-hander has great stuff, but he completed six full innings just 13 times in 29 starts, so the bullpen will be a factor in that game as well.
Looking down the line to a potential rematch of Game 2 starters, it's also worth wondering if Zack Wheeler is simply running out of gas after his stuff was less-than-sharp on Saturday.
He also seemed to lose trust in his signature fastball, using the pitch far less than he has throughout the season. That's not a good sign.
It will be a moot point if the Phillies don't make it to his next start, and even going home with a win under their belts, it still feels like the Astros are in control of this series.
First pitch for Game 3 is scheduled for 8:03 p.m. ET on Monday.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
