Framber Valdez has been on quite a run of late.
With Justin Verlander currently on the injured list, the Houston Astros have needed somebody to pick up the slack.
Valdez has been that guy for Houston.
He’s had a nice run of quality starts lately, and last night against the Texas Rangers, he continued that run.
While he ultimately took a hard-luck loss, Valdez gave the Astros 6.2 innings, allowing four runs, but only two of which were earned, keeping his quality streak alive.
That was Valdez’s 23rd consecutive quality start, which moves him to within one of tying Jake Arrieta‘s run from 2015-2016 and three away from tying Bob Gibson (1967-1968) and Jacob deGrom (2018-19).
Most consecutive quality starts, MLB history:
2018-2019 Jacob DeGrom, 26
1967-1968 Bob Gibson, 26
2015-2016 Jake Arrieta, 24
2022 Framber Valdez, 23** = active streak
— MLB Metrics (@MLBMetrics) September 7, 2022
Valdez Keeps His Run Alive
For context, a quality start means that a starter goes at least six innings in a game and allows three earned runs or fewer.
This is quite an impressive run Valdez is on and he’s getting close to potentially tying and possibly breaking the record set by Gibson and deGrom.
Without Verlander, Valdez has taken on the mantle of ace for the Astros, and he has performed quite well.
Valdez lowered his ERA on the season down to 2.64 in last night’s game as the Astros fell to the Rangers by a final of 4-3 in the second game of their three-game set, setting up a rubber match tonight.
Valdez is a key piece in the Astros rotation and will play a key role for them in the postseason, especially if he continues having quality starts.
That’s what you want out of your starters.
You want them to at the very least keep you in the game, and Valdez has done that and then some for Houston.
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