Lakeland, Fla. – Jake Rogers knew the topic was going to come up. In fact, he brought it up.
He’d caught Framber Valdez, the Tigers’ new $115 million lefty, in the lower levels of the Astros’ minor league system in 2016 and 2017. He maintained a relationship with Valdez even after he was traded to the Tigers in 2017.
He figured he’d be asked about the controversial cross-up that happened last September.
“There’s been a lot of crazy stuff going on around Twitter, but truly, he’s one of the craziest workhorses you’ll ever see,” Rogers said. “One of the hardest workers I’ve ever met. I have nothing bad to say about Framber.
“He has blinders on when he gets going. And when he gets in that zone, he’s one of the best pitchers there is.”
His competitive fire doesn’t always manifest in positive ways, though.
On Sept. 2, he threw a fastball that hit his catcher Cesar Salazar square in the chest. Clearly, Salazar was expecting something off-speed. Cross-ups happen between pitchers and catchers, even in the age of the PitchCom. But the optics were bad on this one.
Valdez looked angry and he turned away from Salazar when he came out to discuss it. It became an issue in the Astros’ clubhouse afterward when teammates confronted Valdez about his intent.
“Framber is an incredible competitor and I think sometimes the emotions come with that,” said manager AJ Hinch, who managed Valdez for two years in Houston. “I will let him speak for himself. But I am excited to add him. The production is there. The personality is there. The preparation is incredible. We are bringing him into our clubhouse with open arms.”
Valdez took responsibility for the cross-up but he vehemently denied that it was intentional. He reiterated that on Wednesday.
“I want the fans to know these things happen,” Valdez said. “I got crossed up with the catcher. It was not intentional. It happened in a moment of adrenaline, a tense moment. Salazar and I talked about it and we’re good, thank God. It was simply something that happened.
“I apologized to him because it was something accidental in the middle of the game. That’s simply what happened. It was not intentional. It was not personal and I feel good because everyone who knows me knows that it didn’t happen that way. Salazar does, too.”
Judging by the smile that lit Valdez’s face when he was asked about Rogers, it seems unlikely anything similar could happen.
“Jake is a dynamic personality,” he said. “He’s a very funny guy. He keeps everything active. We had a lot of good moments in the minors. I am excited to throw to him again.”
Hinch made a personal visit to Valdez in Florida a few days before the deal was agreed to. The Salazar incident wasn’t a point of discussion.
“I just wanted to connect with him and vice versa,” Hinch said. “Reuniting with him in the meeting along was real cool for me. He’s come from the bottom up. A lot of people doubted him from his signing day all the way through to the big leagues and he’s flourished into one of the best pitchers in baseball.
“That meeting for me was just seeing how his life has changed, see how his family is doing, see what’s interesting to him in terms of the team he’s about to chose and lay out our team and he means to it.”
There was speculation in the media that the Salazar incident was one of the reasons Valdez stayed on the market as long as he did. Valdez disagrees with the premise.
“From afar, it may have seemed slow,” he said. “But to my process, I had a normal offseason. I was very clear on where I wanted to land and it was just a matter of waiting for that time to happen. I am here today because of that patience.”
God’s timing, Valdez later added, is always perfect.
“This is the moment for this opportunity to happen in my life and I’m excited for it.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Framber Valdez, Tigers glad to put pitching cross-up issue behind them
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
