DETROIT — Major League Baseball handed down a five-game suspension and fine to Detroit Tigers hurler Framber Valdez on Wednesday, following his ejection the previous night for striking Boston Red Sox infielder Trevor Story with a pitch during Detroit’s crushing 10-2 defeat.
The league initially imposed a six-game ban on Valdez for deliberately targeting Story with a pitch, but negotiations between MLB and the players’ union resulted in the reduced punishment. Valdez began serving his suspension during Wednesday evening’s series conclusion and should return to action next Wednesday when Detroit faces the New York Mets, assuming no weather delays.
The Tigers are already dealing with a depleted starting rotation, missing Tarik Skubal due to elbow troubles, Casey Mize with a hamstring injury, and Justin Verlander because of hip issues.
“Generally when you have an event like last night where there’s a disruption of play and there’s a guy kicked out of the game for what is deemed throwing at somebody, that doesn’t come for free,” Detroit skipper A.J. Hinch explained.
Hinch also received a one-game suspension from MLB for Valdez’s deliberate actions and served his penalty Wednesday night.
The incident unfolded after Valdez had already surrendered eight runs through three innings. Willson Contreras launched a massive 449-foot home run on the opening pitch of the fourth inning, pausing to admire the ball’s flight before tossing his bat aside.
Just two pitches afterward, Wilyer Abreu extended the lead to 10-2 with his own blast into the right-field stands, a scorching 109.1 mph rocket. Valdez’s subsequent offering was a 94.4 mph fastball that drilled Story squarely in the back between his jersey numbers. Notably, Valdez hadn’t thrown a four-seam fastball since August 3rd of the previous season, when he plunked Boston’s Ceddanne Rafaela under the left arm with a 95.5 mph pitch during a 6-1 deficit to the Red Sox while playing for Houston.
When home plate umpire Adam Beck and Tigers backstop Dillon Dingler stepped between Story and the pitcher’s mound Tuesday night, both dugouts cleared along with the bullpens. The confrontation remained verbal with no physical altercations.
Valdez maintained his innocence regarding the beaning, claiming the unusual four-seam fastball simply escaped his control.
During his tenure with Houston last year, Valdez faced similar accusations when he accidentally struck his own catcher César Salazar in the chest shortly after surrendering a grand slam to the New York Yankees. Two pitches following Trent Grisham’s slam in New York’s 7-1 triumph on September 2nd, Valdez crossed up Salazar by delivering a 92.8 mph sinker to Anthony Volpe. Both Valdez and Salazar insisted afterward that hitting the catcher was unintentional.
Previously that season, Valdez had shown visible frustration with defensive positioning during a sixth-inning play that resulted in the lone run he allowed in Houston’s 2-1 setback to the Washington Nationals on July 28th.
