Earlier this month, the Detroit Tigers and left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez agreed to a 3-year deal. Valdez will be reunited with A.J. Hinch, who was the manager of the Astros. While seeing Valdez signing with the Tigers, I was thinking if this is a great deal.
To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the great baseball reference website.
Firstly, let’s look at Framber Valdez’s performances against the AL Central opponents. He made 9 starts and 1 relief appearance against the White Sox so far in his career, posting a 3.00 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP over 57 innings. Valdez made 2 starts against the White Sox in 2025, posting a 5.40 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP in 10 innings. Moreover, he made 4 starts and 1 relief appearance against the Guardians thus far. He did pitch well against the Guardians. Over 31.1 innings, he owned a 2.30 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. The Guardians hitters only batted .176 against him. However, he didn’t face the Guardians in the last 2 seasons.
In addition, Valdez made 7 starts and 2 relief appearances against the Royals so far in his career. He owned a 3.29 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over 52 innings. Valdez made 2 starts against the Royals last year. He went 8 innings in each start. In 16 innings, he only gave up 3 runs. Unfortunately, he took a loss against the Royals in 2025. Furthermore, Valdez made 5 starts and 3 relief appearances against the Twins thus far. He threw 37.1 innings, posting a 2.17 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. The Twins hitters only hit .180 against Valdez. The last time he faced the Twins was in 2024.
Finally, let’s look back at the Tigers starters in 2025. Last season, there were 3 starters who tossed at least 100 innings for the Tigers. Casey Mize made 28 starts, posting a 3.87 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over 149 innings. He earned a career high 14 wins and was selected to the All-Star game for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Jack Flaherty made 31 starts last year, posting a 4.64 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP over 161 innings. Flaherty threw 188 strikeouts in 2025. Moreover, no one would ignore Tarik Skubal. Skubal made 31 starts for the Tigers as well. He tossed 195.1 innings, posting a 2.21 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. Skubal struck out 241 batters in 2025. Again, Skubal won the AL Cy Young award.
Framber Valdez finished the 2025 season with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP over 192 innings. He earned 13 wins and took 11 losses in 31 starts. So far in his career, he has shown that he’s a reliable starter in the rotation. For the Tigers, signing Valdez is surely an important way to enhance the rotation. In particular, only Tarik Skubal threw more innings than Valdez did in 2025. Additionally, Valdez’s performance has been consistent against the AL Central opponents. And one more thing, Tarik Skubal is expected to be a free agent after the 2026 season. We don’t know if Skubal will stay with the Tigers for the long-term. But with Valdez in the team, the Tigers could make sure that there’s an ace if Valdez stays healthy.
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