Astros’ Framber Valdez Lands on 15-Day IL With Elbow Inflammation
Houston Astros left-handed starter Framber Valdez has been placed on the 15-day IL retroactive to April 6th due to left elbow inflammation, the club announced on Tuesday.
Valdez, a two-time All-Star, was scratched from Monday’s start versus the Texas Rangers after reporting elbow soreness prior to first pitch. He was replaced by Blair Henley, who lasted just a third of an inning in his major league debut and has since been optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Upon returning to Houston, Valdez met with team doctors to determine the severity of his ailment, which revealed inflammation in his left elbow following examination.
The 30-year-old starter has recorded a 2.19 ERA in two starts this season, allowing just three runs on 11 hits and six walks while striking out 10. He finished amongst the top 10 in American League Cy Young voting during the previous two seasons.
Without Valdez, the Astros are turning to top pitching prospect Spencer Arrighetti – the organization’s No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline – for Wednesday’s contest versus the Kansas City Royals. The 24-year-old owns a 2.16 ERA and 10 punchouts over two starts at Triple-A this season.
“He’s going to need some time to recover,” manager Joe Espada said of Valdez’s prognosis ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Royals. “Just see how quickly that [inflammation] comes down. Hopefully, he just misses like two starts and we can get him back on the mound.”
Houston’s pitching staff has been decimated by injuries in 2024, with high-profile arms such as Justin Verlander (shoulder), José Urquidy (forearm), Lance McCullers Jr. (elbow), Luis Garcia (Tommy John) and Kendall Graveman (shoulder) currently on the shelf.
Other injured hurlers on the IL include relievers Penn Murfee (elbow), Oliver Ortega (elbow), Bennett Sousa (shoulder) and starter Shawn Dubin (forearm).
Valdez has become a critical member of the Astros’ rotation over the last few seasons, emerging as the club’s No. 2 starter since 2022. He eclipsed 200 innings that year and barely missed reaching that mark in consecutive campaigns in ‘23, finishing just two innings shy.
The 5-foot-11 starter enjoyed the top statistical performance of his career in ‘22, posting career-bests in wins (17), ERA (2.82), FIP (3.06) and fWAR (4.4) while helping lead his team to a World Series. He followed it up with another impressive performance last season, earning a 3.45 ERA and a career-high 200 strikeouts in 31 starts – matching his ‘22 total – while being worth 4.3 fWAR.
Few pitchers can compare to Valdez’s remarkable ability to induce ground balls, as his 63.2-percent clip ranks first out of 139 qualified big-league pitchers (min. 250 innings) since ‘21.
The Astros have gotten off to a slow start thus far, struggling to a 4-8 record heading into Wednesday’s affair. They fell to 0-4 out of the gate after being swept at Minute Maid Park by the New York Yankees to begin the regular season.
Luckily, they aren’t the only team that’s faltered in the AL West, as only two clubs currently possess a winning record – the Rangers and Los Angeles Angels, both sitting just one game above .500.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Eric Enfermero. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.