Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez, a two-time All-Star, was scratched from a scheduled start Monday with elbow soreness, the team announced.
Per MLB.com, Valdez felt soreness playing catch on Sunday and traveled to Houston Monday morning to be examined by team doctors. He was previously set to start against the Texas Rangers in Arlington.
Astros manager Joe Espada and general manager Dana Brown reportedly downplayed the seriousness of the situation by noting the team wasn’t placing Valdez on the 15-day injured list yet, but admitted they wouldn’t know the full story until after the doctors take a closer look:
“The fact we didn’t put him on the IL is a good sign, we’ll see what the doctors say,” Espada said.
In the meantime, the Astros called up Blair Henley from Triple-A Sugar Land to make his MLB debut against the Rangers on Monday. Henley, a seventh-round pick out of Texas in 2019, posted a 5.06 ERA in Double-A last season.
Valdez has received Cy Young votes and an All-Star nod in each of the last two seasons for the Astros, posting a 3.13 ERA in 399 1/3 combined innings. He was off to a strong start this season, with a 2.19 ERA in 12 1/3 innings across two starts.
The Astros’ stated optimism likely won’t stop fans from being antsy about the possibility of yet another major pitcher injury, given the week the league has had. Both Cleveland Guardians ace Shane Bieber, Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider and Miami Marlins star Eury Pérez have all hit the IL with elbow injuries. Bieber and Pérez will undergo Tommy John surgery, while Strider is receiving a second opinion.
The situation has renewed discourse about how to prevent such injuries in modern MLB, where pitchers throw harder than they ever have, try to spin the ball more than they ever have, are forbidden from using sticky stuff to make holding the ball easier and can’t wait longer than 15 seconds to throw the ball in some at-bats.
The MLB Players Association has focused on the pitch clock in particular as a potential cause, an idea MLB immediately pushed back.
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