Astros’ Framber Valdez Was The Difference In A Razor-Thin World Series

SportsMoney Astros’ Framber Valdez Was The Difference In A Razor-Thin World Series Tony Blengino Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Nov 7, 2022, 08:50am EST | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez, and Hector Neris celebrate in the locker room after .

. . [+] their 4-1 World Series win against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 on Saturday, Nov.

5, 2022, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Copyright 2022 The Associated Press.

All rights reserved What a difference a year makes. After yielding 10 earned runs in a total of 4 2/3 innings in a pair of starts against the Braves in the 2021 World Series – arguably the difference between the Astros winning and losing – Framber Valdez returned to the crucible and was the difference-maker in a positive direction as his club bested the Phillies to win it all. Two wins, 12 1/3 innings, two earned runs allowed on six hits, with 18 strikeouts versus five walks.

In a series where both managers seemed to pitch around their ace starters to get to their bullpens, Valdez – and Manager Dusty Baker’s usage of him – proved to be the difference. Valdez is one interesting, unique pitcher in a number of ways, but before digging into his story specifically, kudos are due to the Astros’ Latin American scouting pipeline. Generally, players are signed out of that area at a very young age – 16 or 17 years old.

Four starting pitchers who were major contributors to the 2022 Astros were signed inexpensively at relatively “old” ages. Cristian Javier, who turned around the Series with the first six innings of their combined no-hitter in Game 4, was signed at age 18 out of the Dominican Republic. Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy were signed out of Venezuela and Mexico, respectively, at the age of 20.

And Valdez was signed out of the Dominican at age 21. Many clubs ignore Latin American prospects after they’ve been passed over in their age 16-17 seasons. The Astros got 56, count ‘em 56 wins out of these four this past regular season.

But back to Valdez. How is he unique? That’s an easy one. I’ll give you a number – 66.

5%. That was his ground ball rate this past season. I have never seen an ERA qualifier post such a stratospheric mark.

How about another number. -3. 9, as in negative.

That’s his average launch angle allowed this past season. Again, I have never seen such a low mark from an ERA qualifier. It is virtually impossible to elevate Valdez’ sinker.

Now a sinker is the easiest pitch for a hitter to put in play, so the lefty needs a strong complementary offering to get hitters out multiple times around the order. That’s where his curveball comes in. Largely because of his deuce, Valdez was able to strike out 194 batters in 201 1/3 innings despite relying so heavily on the sinker and all of those resulting grounders.

MORE FOR YOU $100M Magic: Why Bruno Mars And Other Stars Are Ditching Their Managers Xavi Hernandez Speaks On FC Barcelona’s Europa Clash With Manchester United And Osasuna Trip A Rally Cry To Change Privacy For The Better Is Valdez perfect? Hardly. Only three AL ERA qualifiers walked more batters than Valdez’ 67. Plus, the contact he does allow is relatively authoritative.

Only three other AL ERA qualifiers (Robbie Ray, Nick Pivetta, Jose Berrios) allowed harder than average contact across all major batted ball types. The Astro lefty posted Adjusted Fly Ball, Line Drive and Ground Ball Scores of 144 (worst among AL qualifiers), 104 and 106 respectively. But get this – Valdez’ grounder rate is so extreme that he is a well above average contact manager anyway, posting an overall Adjusted Contact Score of 91.

With just modest improvement over time – and bear in mind how little professional experience he actually has – he’ll be a strong AL Contact Manager of the Year candidate. What might his future hold? Well, expect the command to improve, but he is going to need to lower the level of thunder he allows before his ability to drive that sinker down in the zone starts to wane. Given his body type (he is listed at 5’11”, 239), that may prove to be a challenge.

The likes of Jake Arrieta and Dallas Keuchel were among the most prolific grounder generators of the recent past, and things got really ugly once their grounder rates dropped to mere mortal levels. Those worries are for tomorrow, however. For now, Valdez and the rest of the Astros get to bask in their second championship in the last five seasons.

Just days ago, it looked like the Phillies were writing a story for the ages. But then Cristian Javier happened. And then Chas McCormick happened.

And then, Dusty Baker bested Rob Thomson in the final move of their chess match, sticking with Valdez while his opponent lifted Zack Wheeler at the first sign of trouble. Checkmate. Follow me on Twitter .

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