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Astros Make Framber Valdez Announcement Before Mariners Series

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Gavin M. Groe | Last updated Jul 18, 2025 5:50 PM ET

Left-handed starting pitcher Framber Valdez is in his eighth season with the Houston Astros after making his MLB debut in 2018.

The 31-year-old left-hander has been a frontline starter for Houston ever since with All-Star appearances in 2022 and 2023. He has also finished top 10 in AL Cy Young Voting three times in his career.

Across 154 career starts for the Astros, Valdez has compiled a 78–45 record, a 3.24 ERA and 991 strikeouts.

He was instrumental in Houston’s 2022 World Series run, going 3–0 with a 1.44 ERA and racking up 33 strikeouts in four postseason appearances.

With the Astros surging in 2025, Valdez has once again been a big reason for that and his health in a potential postseason run is Houston’s top priority.

As a result, before Friday’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners it was announced that he would not make his scheduled start for Sunday and teammate Hunter Brown would replace his spot in the rotation.

The Astros announced a change to their rotation for Seattle. Hunter Brown will start Sunday's finale, not Framber Valdez. Valdez will pitch in the following series at Arizona, per the team. https://t.co/9300tHQUEv
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) July 18, 2025

Even after losing key players such as Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker in the offseason and battling injuries to Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Pena, Valdez’s consistency has led Houston to the top of the AL West.

The Astros have won 12 straight games that Valdez has started. Over his 19 starts this season, Valdez has a 2.75 ERA which would be the lowest of his career in a full season, a 10–4 record and 125 strikeouts.

The organization will monitor Valdez’s workload closely in the second half to keep him fully healthy.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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