Valdez to lead Tigers vs. Astros at 'place that saw me grow up' on Tuesday

HOUSTON -- Framber Valdez acknowledges Houston as the place “that saw me grow up.”

On Tuesday, he’ll make his initial homecoming on the Daikin Park mound when the Tigers face the Astros in the second game of their three-game series.

“I’m happy to be here,” the 32-year-old left-hander said Monday, when Daikin’s scoreboard treated him to a video montage of highlights he amassed during his eight seasons in Houston. Fans already on hand applauded the man who won the clinching game of the 2022 World Series against the Phillies, and Valdez reciprocated with a round of applause for them.

A two-time All-Star with the Astros, Valdez also was a big part of their 2021 AL pennant-winner and authored a no-hitter against the Guardians at Daikin Park in 2023.

“I know his time here means a lot to him,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s part of some flags that are hung in left field. It’s impossible to come back to a place that you spend virtually all of your career at and not have that emotional tie.”

Hinch would know. He managed the Astros to their first championship in 2017, as well as the 2019 American League pennant.

“He’s experienced a lot in this building and with this team,” Hinch said. “He wants to do well [on Tuesday]. I think it’s natural to be pretty excitable and pretty competitive at the same time. I would tell Framber to compartmentalize it.”

Valdez, who won 81 games during his Astros tenure, said he has remained in touch with some of his former teammates, particularly his Dominican countrymen, but declined to say if he was looking especially forward to facing any of them, with the names of Triple Crown candidate Yordan Alvarez and three-time batting champion Jose Altuve broached by reporters.

“Just facing the Astros is more than enough for me,” said Valdez, who will bring a 3-5 record and 4.40 ERA into Tuesday’s start, his 15th with the Tigers.

Valdez, who signed a two-year, $70.65 million free-agent deal with Detroit last offseason, said he “would have loved to come back” to Houston but that there were no negotiations with an Astros franchise that never even contacted him about returning. He insists there are no hard feelings.

“It’s part of the business. I understand it,” Valdez said. “I’m very grateful and thankful for them to give me the chance to become the player I am. They gave me the opportunity to be a Major League player.”