Valdez boosts All-Star case with scoreless gem vs. Mets

NEW YORK -- The Astros will be well-represented at the All-Star Game next month, with manager Dusty Baker and his coaching staff guiding the American League squad. Then there’s AL Most Valuable Player candidate Yordan Alvarez and AL Cy Young candidate Justin Verlander leading the way when it comes to Houston’s players.

• Alvarez leading the way at DH in All-Star voting

They may have to make a little room on the flight to Los Angeles for left-hander Framber Valdez, who solidified his résumé as one of the best pitchers in the AL this year by throwing eight scoreless innings in the Astros’ 9-1 win over the Mets on Tuesday night at Citi Field.

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“I hope so,” Baker said when asked if he thought Valdez was an All-Star. “I don’t really have a choice in a lot of that, but when you’re in first place, you usually get quite a few guys. I’m hoping he can go.”

Valdez (8-3) delivered his 12th consecutive quality start, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out five batters against a Mets team that entered the game tied with the Cardinals for the most runs scored in the National League. He needed only 97 pitches to get through the Mets’ lineup three times and limit the damage.

"We knew he was going to keep the ball on the ground, work the bottom half,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “He's got a lot of movement, a lot of secondary stuff that you have to honor. There's not a whole lot of secrets anymore. By the time you play the game, you know what they're going to attempt to do.”

Since giving up six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Angels on April 19, Valdez is 7-2 with a 2.33 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 12 starts (81 innings). The Astros are 8-4 in those starts. His body of work for the season should have him in the All-Star discussion: 8-3, 2.65 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 13 quality starts in 15 outings.

The pitchers and reserves for both squads -- totaling 23 players for each side -- will be determined via “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the Commissioner’s Office. The complete All-Star rosters will be announced during the 2022 Chevrolet MLB All-Star Selection Show on July 10.

“If I'm invited to go to the All-Star Game, I would definitely go,” Valdez said. “It would be a great accomplishment for me and any single player that makes it to the All-Star Game. ... We’re here working hard to see if I’m invited there, and then I’ll be there.”

In a crucial stretch of the schedule for the Astros, Valdez has posted back-to-back strong outings in New York against the Yankees and Mets, who have the best records in their respective leagues. He held the Yankees to three runs and two hits in six innings in Thursday’s game, which the Astros' bullpen blew by giving up four runs in the ninth.

“A guy like that, you expect him always to go and have a good game,” catcher Martín Maldonado said. “I feel like I expect that from every starting pitcher. He’s done a pretty good job the last 12 starts with quality start after quality start. He did it last year after he came back from the finger injury [suffered in Spring Training], and he did it in 2020. He’s proven he can do it over and over.”

Valdez has one of the best curveballs in baseball, but he started throwing a cutter in the spring to give him another weapon. On Tuesday, he threw the same number of cutters (16) as he did curveballs, with his sinker carrying much of the load. He threw that pitch 57 times. Entering the game, he had thrown his curveball 27.8 percent of the time, with the cutter only 6.2 percent.

“I think we can all agree, I have a pretty good curveball,” Valdez said. “I feel comfortable throwing my curveball, but I tried to not throw it in counts where they might be expecting it. So maybe when I'm ahead in the count, 0-2 count, instead of throwing them a curveball, try to throw them something else to keep them off balance.”

Maldonado said Valdez’s cutter-curveball usage depends on the hitter and the situation, but when combined with the sinker, it gives him three quality pitches to get outs.

“I think that’s a pitch he can throw for a strike when he wants, a pitch that goes the opposite direction of the sinker,” Maldonado said. “Also, the curveball goes down, so he’s got three pitches going three different ways, so it’s hard to square him up like that.”