Framber Valdez Questions Defensive Strategy After Astros’ Loss
The Houston Astros’ star pitcher, Framber Valdez, expressed his dissatisfaction with the defensive positioning at a crucial moment in the game, following the 2-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. The incident occurred in the sixth inning of the game, where a specific defensive play generated the only error that Valdez allowed. With two outs, Valdez gave a walk to Josh Bell. Then, a double by Nathaniel Lowe to right field drove in the run that tied the score.Valdez expressed his disagreement with Taylor Trammell’s position, who was halfway to the center field instead of being in right field. When asked if he addressed the issue with the coaching staff, Valdez replied: “I don’t have to ask the coaches about that. I feel like baseball is a game of common sense. As a left-handed pitcher, I don’t get hit with many high pitches.” Despite the loss, Valdez had an outstanding performance, allowing only three hits and one run, in addition to tying his season record with 12 strikeouts in six innings. With this, he became the tenth pitcher in franchise history to reach 1,000 career strikeouts (1,007). Riley Adams hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, securing the victory for Washington and extending Houston’s losing streak to five games, the longest of the season.“I saw the right fielder playing in center field and, you know, we have a center fielder for that. I feel like the right fielder should have been playing in right field. I felt uncomfortable with that,” Valdez stated to the media in Spanish through an interpreter.
Framber Valdez
