Sep 2, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez (59) and catcher Cesar Salazar (18) walk to the dugout before the game against the New York Yankees at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Yankees Fans Blamed for Framber Valdez Hitting Catcher

Originally posted on New York Yankees on SI
By Joseph Randazzo | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 9:18 AM ET

Call it the "cross-up heard around the world." After Framber Valdez gave up a grand slam to Trent Grisham that put the New York Yankees up 6-0, catcher Cesar Salazar found himself getting beamed in the chest. Neither Valdez, Salazar, nor the Houston Astros organization will admit what really happened, but after the game, when the 29-year-old catcher with less than 50 games under his belt was asked what went wrong, a group of fans caught the stray.

"There was a good amount of Yankees fans, so it was pretty loud after the grand slam. Maybe my pitchcom wasn't in the right spot, so I pressed the wrong button."

Yeaaaaaah after hearing Cesar, I think he’s covering for Framber pic.twitter.com/BTgXHigxk0
— Space City Sports (@LiveSCS) September 3, 2025

Valdez was also asked about his backstop catching a 94 MPH fastball to the chest. While opposing fans were not directly used, the pitcher also blamed fans reacting to Grisham's blast.

"It was not intentional. I called for center. That's the pitch I wanted. There was a lot of noise, and that was the pitch he wanted me to throw."

Framber Valdez said he didn’t hit catcher Cesar Salazar intentionally with the pitch two pitches after the grand slam and apologized to him, saying there was miscommunication. The two were talking when the media entered the clubhouse. pic.twitter.com/US7DA0DoNQ
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) September 3, 2025

The most underrated culprit in all of this may not be fans, Salazar, or even Valdez himself. This isn't a story if Anthony Volpe, the much-maligned shortstop for the Yankees, swings at a flat, 93 MPH fastball down the middle instead of taking it like it's a foot off the plate.

The funny thing about that is Volpe, as most major leaguers do, does damage against those pitches at the heart of the plate. Against pitches from left-handed pitchers that leave one middle-middle, Volpe has a 74% swing rate and is hitting .385 with a .615 slugging percentage against them. He also has just one strikeout this year when a lefty grooves one right down Broadway.

There’s speculation that Astros pitcher Framber Valdez purposely crossed up his catcher Cesar Salazar and hit him with this pitch after Salazar told him to step off before allowing a grand slam pic.twitter.com/ds3c9MzQV6
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 3, 2025

Valdez might blame his catcher for what happened, and Volpe doing Volpe things may have opened the Astros up to a world of hurt, but one thing is for sure: the Yankees have his number. Valdez is 0-1 with a 6.46 ERA in five starts. Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres crushed him in his introductory game to them in June 2019. That night, he gave up five earned runs in 3.1 IP.

In five starts against the Yankees, there was only one instance where he pitched six innings and gave up three earned runs or fewer. The rest, he never completed six. Torres and Sanchez may be gone, but the collaborative clobbering of Valdez remains the same. There was the Grisham slam, as well as Jazz Chisholm sending one into the night, and the lefty-on-lefty blast had Chisholm crossing the plate with all the flair and charisma that he usually exhibits on a nightly basis.

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