Hall Of Fame Pitcher Makes A Damning Statement Regarding Leadership Capability Of Framber Valdez

“I love pitchers who pitch with emotion. But the danger is that emotion can go the wrong way. And it can spin you into a place where there’s no return in that moment. You have to lessen those. Two a year—got it. You can live with that. Four to six—you don’t have enough time to recover from those. And the organization doesn’t want to go through that.”

Valdez signed for the Detroit Tigers on a three-year, $116 million contract in February. The Tigers need him to step up as the ace of their rotation with Tarik Skubal sidelined from action for at least two months after undergoing elbow surgery last week.

Framber Valdez Must Control Emotions To Become Leader Of Tigers’ Pitching staff

John Smoltz believes Framber Valdez has almost every essential quality to become the ace of the Detroit Tigers’ starting rotation. But he must learn to control his emotions a lot better on the mound to take over the role.

“Maybe this is the only hiccup. There’s a guy that should stay healthy. There’s a guy that should dominate with his stuff in that ballpark—if he can stay locked in on the mound,” Smoltz said. “It’s a talent. It’s a learned trait. It’s not in everybody’s personality.”

Valdez holds an 83-54 record over his MLB career with a 3.41 ERA. He has nine complete games to his name, including three shutouts, placing himself among the most durable starting pitchers in the contemporary game. The former Houston Astros southpaw recorded over 175.0 innings in each of the previous four seasons.