Framber Valdez- Biography

Framber Valdez is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros from the Dominican Republic (MLB). Valdez joined the Astros as an international free agent in 2015. He made his MLB debut in 2018 and continues to improve his game with each passing year.

Framber Valdez- Birth, Parents & Education

Framber Valdez was born in Palenque, Dominican Republic, in the province of San Cristóbal. He began pitching when he was sixteen years old.

Framber completed his primary education at a private school in Sabana Grande de Palenque, Dominican Republic. Following that, he finished high school at the same institution.

His playing career is his primary source of income, with monthly earnings expected to be in the 80-85 thousand dollar range.

Framber Valdez- Minor leagues

On March 19, 2015, Valdez signed as an international free agent with the Houston Astros for a $10,000 signing bonus. At the age of 21, he was five years older than the majority of amateur free agent signings from his country.

Two Astros scouts recognized him after a long day of watching programs run by independent trainers. After only six pitches, they offered him a tryout at their Dominican facility near Guayacanes.

Valdez made his professional debut in 2015 with the DSL Astros. During the 2016 season, he was a member of the Greeneville Astros, Tri-City ValleyCats, Quad Cities River Bandits, and Lancaster Jet Hawks.

In 2017, he played for the Buies Creek Astros and the Corpus Christi Hooks. Following the 2017 season, he played for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League. During the 2018 minor league season, he alternated between Corpus Christi and the Fresno Grizzlies.

Rookie season for the Houston Astros (2018)

The Astros promoted Valdez to the major leagues for the first time on August 21, 2018. He made his debut that day, pitching 4+1/3 innings and winning the game. He was 4–1 with a 2.19 ERA in 37 innings with Houston in 2018. He split the 2019 season between the Round Rock Express and the Houston Texans.

He was 5–2 with a 3.25 ERA in 44+13 innings with Round Rock. He went 4–7 with a 5.86 ERA in 70+23 innings with Houston. In 11 games (10 starts) in 2020, he went 5–3 with a 3.57 ERA, struck out 76 batters (8th in the AL), and had the league’s second-best home run/9 IP ratio (0.637).

After leading the team in innings pitched and games won, he was named Astros Pitcher of the Year by the Houston chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). On September 29, 2020, Valdez became the first relief pitcher in playoff history to throw five scoreless innings.

On March 3, 2021, Valdez shattered his left ring finger after being hit in the hand by a Francisco Lindor ground ball during a spring training game. He was supposed to miss months, if not the entire season, but he returned on May 28. He will lead the major leagues in ground ball rate in 2021.

Framber Valdez- Persoanl Life

When it comes to his personal life, he is a very private person. According to reports, he is married and has two children, but he has not revealed the identity of their mother. Furthermore, no information about this could be found on the internet.

Also Read: Kody Huff, Brock Jones, Andrew Abbott, Brendan Beck

Quick Facts of Framber Valdez

• Valdez joined the Astros in 2015 as an international free agent.
• In 2018, he made his MLB debut and constantly improves his games by every passing year.
• He was awarded Astros Pitcher of the Year by the Houston chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America after leading the team in innings pitched and games won (BBWAA).
• Valdez became the first relief pitcher in the playoffs to throw five scoreless innings on September 29, 2020.
• Valdez shattered his left ring finger on March 3, 2021, after he was hit in the hand by a Francisco Lindor ground ball during a spring training game.