Framber Valdez

The Astros have optioned lefty Framber Valdez to Triple-A following tonight’s game, the team announced to reporters (Twitter link via the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome). The move creates a vacancy in the Houston rotation, as Valdez had been serving as the fifth starter. A corresponding roster move will be announced tomorrow.

Valdez had a rough night in Houston’s 14-2 loss to the Pirates, as he was ambushed for six runs on eight hits and a walk in three innings of work. That marked the second straight clunker for the 25-year-old southpaw, who served up five runs in 3 1/3 innings to the Yankees his last time out. Prior to those rough two outings, though, Valdez had turned in two strong performances (albeit against lackluster Orioles and Blue Jays lineups).

The ’Stros have a pair of off days baked into the schedule next week, so they can navigate a trip through the rotation without needing to rely on a fifth starter. Still, it’s worth wondering whether they’ll give Valdez another look or explore another possibility. The team did just activate Collin McHugh from the injured list, though he struggled in the rotation earlier this season. The Astros have also tried righty Corbin Martin in that role, but he was hit hard in the big leagues and hasn’t exactly thrived in three starts since being sent back down. Rogelio Armenteros won’t be an option for another nine days (barring an injury on the MLB roster), as he was just optioned to Triple-A yesterday. He hasn’t excelled in Triple-A himself, anyhow. Top prospect Forrest Whitley, meanwhile, has battled shoulder issues recently and isn’t close to being an option at this point.

All of that uncertainty could lead the Astros to eventually look outside the organization for some rotation help. They’re currently leading the Rangers by 5.5 games, so there’s no urgency to strike up a deal in the short term, but that’s a closer race than many anticipated in the American League West. Injuries to some star players (e.g. Jose Altuve, George Springer, Carlos Correa) haven’t helped Houston, although they’re close to full strength in the lineup at this point, with only Correa absent among the team’s regulars. Still, the rotation was largely viewed as a piecemeal operation heading into the season, and it seems reasonable to expect that the Astros will at the very least explore their options — particularly with Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley set to become free agents at season’s end.

The Astros are moving left-hander Framber Valdez into the big league rotation, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. He’ll step into the fifth spot that was vacated today when Houston optioned the struggling Corbin Martin to Triple-A.

Collin McHugh opened the year in the rotation alongside Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Wade Miley and Brad Peacock, but his own struggles landed him in the bullpen. (More recently, elbow troubles sent him to the injured list.) While Martin tossed well in his first outing, he was unable to last more than four innings in any of his next four starts, allowing multiple runs in each of those performances.

Valdez, 25, has gotten a brief look in the rotation himself in the past. He started five games for the ’Stros last year and posted a 2.59 ERA in 24 1/3 innings. Solid as that ERA appeared, though, Valdez also posted an ugly 20-to-18 K/BB ratio in that time. This season, Valdez has worked as a reliever in the Majors and notched a 3.12 ERA with a slightly improved 21-to-13 K/BB ratio. He’s still too prone to surrendering free passes, but he’ll work to improve that on the fly while stepping into a larger role with the Astros.

Houston’s nine-game lead in the AL West is large enough that there’s no immediate urgency to find a more established starter to round out the rotation, but it also stands to reason that as the trade deadline draws nearer, president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow could pursue upgrades. Peacock and Miley have both pitched well in their starts, but the Astros may want a higher-caliber arm to step into a potential postseason rotation behind Verlander and Cole. Talk of a potential reunion with Dallas Keuchel likely won’t completely die off until he signs with a new team in the near future, though that’d be one alternative if the Astros prefer to hang onto their prospects and entrust a rotation spot to a known commodity.

Houston has a number of in-house alternatives as well, should they wish to exhaust more options before looking outside the organization. Right-handers Brady Rodgers and Josh James are already in the Major League bullpen, while lefty Cionel Perez and righty Rogelio Armenteros are on the 40-man roster and in the Triple-A rotation. It was hoped that top prospect Forrest Whitley would eventually emerge as an option, but he’s struggled throughout the 2019 campaign and recently landed on the minor league injured list due to shoulder fatigue.