![]() ![]() ![]() 175 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). FanGraphs noted that the bender “plays up against lefties,” but Valdez’s challenge will be to make that limited profile work against right-handed hitters. FanGraphs graded it as a plus pitch prior to this season, and he has thrown it over 30 percent of the time in major league action this year. His fastball averaged 92.5 miles per hour in his last start, and projects as an above-average offering, but the real gem here is his curveball. The reason for that pessimistic outlook? Perez’s raw stuff isn’t so great. Steamer projects him for a 3.87 ERA for the rest of the season, but it’s hard to see him sticking in the rotation long term. He produced excellent strikeout and ground ball rates in Double-A, but early looks at advanced metrics like xFIP (4.29) and SIERA (4.27) suggest he will regress a fair amount. The 24-year-old rookie has 15 strikeouts to 10 walks in 19 2⁄ 3 big league innings, and has benefited from an unsustainable 70.6 percent ground ball rate. RHP Jordan Zimmermann (7-6, 4.03 ERA)Īs mentioned, Valdez’s early success probably won’t continue. Pitching Matchup: LHP Framber Valdez (3-1, 1.37 ERA) vs. Media: Fox Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network Can the Tigers even the series on Tuesday? Houston Astros (90-54) at Detroit Tigers (59-85) His success has been a bit of a mirage so far, though - more on that in a bit - so that might open the door for the Tigers to pick up a win over playoff-bound Houston. Weird things happen over a 162-game schedule, though, which is why they will turn to a person named Framber Valdez as their starter on Tuesday.įor as ridiculous as that name sounds, Valdez is a real baseball player, one who has managed a 1.37 ERA in 19 2⁄ 3 major league innings this year. Now, their success is built on the best rotation in baseball, one that leads the majors with a 3.18 ERA in 868 innings (second in MLB). Then they picked up Gerrit Cole on the cheap, turned him into the hellbeast everyone expected him to be on draft day 2011. They added Justin Verlander last August, just in time for a run to the World Series. So, in their quest to repeat, the Astros loaded up their starting rotation. While the ‘Stros are still a great offensive team, that level of performance wasn’t going to happen. They had eight regular-ish players with a wRC+ of 118 or better (the Tigers, meanwhile, didn’t return anyone with a wRC+ higher than 112 in 30 games or more). Their 122 wRC+ as a team was one of the highest in MLB history, putting them on par with legendary lineups like the 1927 New York Yankees. The 2017 Houston Astros built their success on a historically great offense.
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