Framber Valdez DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez was dominant on Thursday, tossing seven shutout frames while striking out four. There was never any real danger for the ace, as he scattered four hits and two walks throughout the game. He is coming off of a 2024 season where he posted a 2.91 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with 169 strikeouts in 176 innings. He may not give you the strikeout upside of some other aces, but his reputation as a workhorse pitcher is becoming a rare occurrence in today's game. He is a true innings-eater who will provide great ratios as a matchup-proof option for fantasy.

Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez has been named the team's Opening Day starter on March 27 against the New York Mets, according to manager Joe Espada. Because Valdez doesn't have the high-end strikeout upside that other aces do, he's merely a low-end fantasy ace/high-end No. 2 option, and the 31-year-old Dominican southpaw will have a tough task on his hands in his first start of 2025. He makes up for his lack of strikeouts with an elite ability to induce weak contact, mainly in the form of ground balls. The two-time All-Star and former World Series champion went 15-7 in 2024 with a sharp 2.91 ERA (3.25 FIP) and a 1.11 WHIP with 169 strikeouts and 55 walks in 176 1/3 innings over his 28 regular-season starts. The veteran southpaw has also looked good this spring with a 2.53 ERA in his 10 2/3 innings, but Valdez only has one season of 200-plus K's.

Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez said the team has not approached him or his agent yet about a contract extension, according to The Athletic's Chandler Rome. Rome adds that it would probably be unwise for Valdez to consider signing any extension the Astros might offer him during spring training. The 31-year-old southpaw is in his final year of club control in 2025 and is scheduled to make $18 million this year. If he hits the open market next winter, which appears likely right now, Valdez should have no shortage of offers from other organizations after serving as Houston's ace the last three years. The Dominican hurler was an All-Star in 2022 and 2023 and had a 2.91 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 169:55 K:BB in 28 starts in 2024. There's a lot to like about Valdez, but his lower strikeout rate for an ace makes him more of a low-end No. 1 fantasy starter/high-end No. 2 than a high-end fantasy ace.