Valdez, Javier feel good entering 2021

Astros pitcher Framber Valdez threw exactly 70 2/3 innings in each of the past two seasons, but those two seasons were anything but similar. Valdez posted a 5.86 ERA and 1.67 WHIP in 26 games (eight starts) as a fledgling swingman in ’19 and last year blossomed into one of baseball’s top left-handers.

Valdez went 5-3 with a 3.57 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 11 games (10 starts) for the Astros with 16 walks and 63 hits allowed in the regular season. Combined with the playoffs, he threw 94 2/3 innings in 2020, which was the most of any pitcher in the big leagues. Valdez said he’s ready for much more this year.

“I worked on my physical aspect this offseason and I just made sure that I was physically ready to endure a longer season and throw however many innings they need out of me,” Valdez said. “I feel good, I feel prepared to have a long and good season this year.”

Valdez threw 15 of his 24 pitches for strikes in his first outing of the spring in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the Mets at Port St. Lucie, Fla. All but two of the pitches he threw were sinkers. He gave up a homer to Jeff McNeil in the second inning. Last year, Valdez threw sinkers 55 percent of the time, and curveballs 34 percent. His curveball is one of the best pitches in the Majors.

“It’s just a matter of Framber making some adjustments that we’re going to help him with, and it depends on what the league is going to do with him,” manager Dusty Baker said. “Some of the league hasn’t even seen him, which I think is to his advantage.”

Javier breezes in Grapefruit League debut

Perhaps no Astros pitcher benefitted more from last year’s start-and-stop schedule than Cristian Javier. The season’s expanded rosters -- as well as some injuries that resulted from the unusual season -- opened the door for 10 pitchers to make their Major League debuts for Houston in 2020.

Javier, who had pitched in only two games above Double-A entering last year, finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year balloting by going 5-2 with a 3.48 ERA and .188 opponents’ batting average in the regular season. He worked two scoreless innings in his Grapefruit League debut on Tuesday against the Mets, throwing 32 pitches.

Javier said he worked out in the Dominican Republic this offseason and focused on gearing up his body to withstand a full workload.

“I worked on a lot of different body parts, starting with my legs,” he said. “I wanted to get stronger in my legs and also my arms, shoulder and back. I just wanted to be in the best condition I can be in and make sure I can stay here for the whole season and help the big league team.”