NEW YORK – Detroit Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez is getting ready to return.
After serving a five-game suspension for intentionally beaning Boston Red Soxshortstop Trevor Story in his last start, Valdez is expected to return against the New York Mets on Wednesday, May 13.
What was he allowed to do during the suspension? He worked out with coaches on the field before games. But when the games started, he had to leave the clubhouse.
“I felt pretty bad once I got the news because I had to stay away,” Valdez said through Tigers interpreter Carlos Guillen on Tuesday at Citi Field. “I was not allowed to be in the clubhouse during the games. I felt terrible. I felt sad leaving the clubhouse and leaving my teammates when I had to go back to the hotel to watch games on TV.”
Valdez disagreed with the suspension. He has said he did not intentionally try to hit Story.
“It was not fair,” he said Tuesday. “I do not consider it was fair. But the suspension is over. I’m going back to the mound and going to help my team to win and do my best to get that win.”
Valdez owns a 4.57 ERA with 15 walks and 35 strikeouts across 43⅓ innings in eight starts.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said he just wants Valdez to “come out of it ready to pitch [Wednesday]. I mean, that’s all you can really do. But it’s hard being not being around the team during games. He’s been able to get his work in. He’s been consistent behind the scenes, and then he’s had to leave each day and not be in the clubhouse or not be in the dugout. So we’ve got him center focused on the Mets, not making it any bigger deal than it is and get on with the season. But I hope he understands how important he is to us to get back on track.”
Valdez struggled in his last start against the Red Sox on May 5 in Comerica Park.
He gave up seven earned runs in three innings, allowing three home runs.
“I just rewatched the game completely,” he said. “I just evaluated myself and evaluated everything and so at the end of the day, I just left everything to the analytics side, to the numbers.”
Some have speculated that Red Sox base runners were able to read how Valdez was gripping the ball because of how he was holding his glove and then tip off hitters to what pitch was coming.
But Valdez said that he has not changed his mechanics.
“I’m keeping the same mechanics,” he said. “Being consistent with every movement, being consistent with every pitch, with everything I have to do just to put the ball in the strike zone.”
The one thing he did change?
He has focused more on throwing a four-seam fastball.
That’s the pitch he hit Story with.
“I don’t want it to happen in a situation like that again,” he said. “I’ve added it to my repertoire for my next start. I’m focused on taking the field tomorrow and doing my best to help the team win.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Framber Valdez ‘felt terrible’ during suspension, made pitch change
