Watch live right now from Lakeland, Fla., where the Tigers are introducing left-hander Framber Valdez, who signed a three-year contract on Tuesday, in a news conference.
Valdez joins a rotation that boasts AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize and Justin Verlander, who returned to the club on a one-year deal.
Valdez, who turned 32 on Nov. 19, spent his first eight seasons with the Astros -- the first two of which were under manager A.J. Hinch from 2018-19. The lefty has since established himself as one of the most consistent starters in baseball, finding a formula for success in the Majors by combining solid strikeout numbers with a heavy dose of ground balls.
Since the beginning of 2020, Valdez has posted a 3.23 ERA over 973 innings. Only four hurlers have shouldered a heavier workload than him over the past six years, and his 128 ERA+ in that span ranks eighth among those with at least 100 starts.