Houston — Maybe he didn’t exactly circle this day on his calendar, but he knew it was coming.
Framber Valdez, who spent the first 11 years of his professional career with the Houston Astros, eight of those in the big leagues, returns to the Daikin Park mound as a visitor for the first time on Tuesday.
“A lot of feelings,” he said through interpreter Carlos Guillen. “I’m excited but mostly I’m nervous. It’s the first time here as a visiting player, you know? But I am happy to be here in a place that saw me grow up and perform and be a professional.”
He was 21 years old when he signed with the Astros in 2015. Three years later, he made his big-league debut and five years later he was pitching in the postseason.
“I know his time here means a lot to him,” said Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch, who was the manager who brought Valdez to the big leagues in 2018. “He’s part of some of those (championship) banners that hang there in left field. It’s impossible to come back to a place where you spent all of your career and not have those emotional ties.
“But he will channel that and get pretty competitive. He wants to do well. He’s experienced a lot in this building and with that team. It’s natural for him to feel excited and competitive at the same time.”
Because his years with the Astros were so significant for him personally and for his career, he admitted he was stung when the club didn’t make a bid to bring him back when he became a free agent last offseason.
“I went to a team that wanted to sign me,” he said of the Tigers’ three-year, $115 million deal. “I would have loved for my team of eight, nine years to want me back, but it’s part of the business. I understand that.”
He was asked if he harbored any bad feelings toward the Astros.
“No hard feelings at all,” he said. “I am very grateful and thankful for them giving me the chance to become the player I am. They gave me the opportunity to be a major-league player and an opportunity to have a good contract now as a professional.
“I’m thankful for them.”
That said: “I still have to go out and pitch my game and get them out,” he said. “That’s my job.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers’ Framber Valdez ‘excited, nervous’ about return to Houston
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
