DETROIT -- Amid injuries to Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize and Justin Verlander, another starting pitcher absence is the last thing the Tigers needed. But as soon as Framber Valdez was ejected from Tuesday’s game for hitting Trevor Story, it was inevitable.
Valdez began serving a five-game suspension Wednesday night. Major League Baseball originally suspended the left-hander for six games, but reduced it upon his agreement to drop any appeal. He was also fined an undisclosed amount.
Manager A.J. Hinch received a one-game suspension, a common occurrence for managers when their pitchers are suspended for intentionally hitting batters. Managers cannot appeal suspensions, so Hinch served it Wednesday night. Bench coach George Lombard managed the Tigers’ series finale against the Red Sox in his place.
The suspension falls in line with typical timelines for starting pitchers. Any suspension less than five games is relatively toothless, since starters are usually on a five-man rotation. The Tigers currently are not, thanks to injuries.
Valdez’s suspension leaves Detroit with just Jack Flaherty, who started Wednesday, and Keider Montero in the rotation. Montero is slated to start Friday’s series opener in Kansas City. Valdez was scheduled to start Sunday night’s series finale, but will now miss that, leaving the Tigers with no probable starters listed for Saturday or Sunday. With off-days on either side of the series, Detroit could conceivably do two bullpen games, utilizing Ty Madden as a bulk pitcher for one of them.
Valdez will be eligible to pitch next Wednesday at the Mets.
Though Valdez said after Tuesday’s game that he did not believe he should be suspended, the discipline was widely expected, including by the manager.
“Generally, when you have an event like last night, where there’s a disruption in play, there’s a guy kicked out of the game for what was deemed throwing at somebody, that doesn’t come for free,” Hinch said.
Former All-Star first baseman Eric Hosmer created buzz on social media after the game when he suggested Red Sox players were relaying Valdez’s pitch selections based on glove movement. Such a tactic isn’t illegal in the game, though it could provide another reason for Valdez to be frustrated on the mound.
Valdez, for his part, suggested no such knowledge after the game.
“I don't think so,” he said through translation from Tigers director of Spanish communications Carlos Guillen. “If that was the case, if they got something on me that I was tipping my pitches, that's good for them because I wasn't doing my job. But honestly, that stuff happens in the game. I have to go back and watch the video, watch my performance and how was my body moving. I'm working always on my mechanics and doing everything the same way. If they had something on me, that's good on them.”
Hinch had a similar outlook.
“I kind of assume always that everybody in the league works towards finding the glove tips and things like that,” said Hinch, who received a one-year suspension and was dismissed as Astros manager in the fallout from MLB’s investigation into the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal following the 2019 season. “I have no idea whether they were or not. It’s all fair, so … the best way to combat that is to clean up your glove and your own pitches. So if they were, that still falls on us.”