Astros Ace Framber Valdez Has Fallen Apart at Critical Point of Season

The Houston Astros have managed to maintain their momentum as of late, but starting pitcher Framber Valdez has struggled immensely in his last few starts.

Sep 20, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez (59) reacts and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (29) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the third inning at Daikin Park. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Over the course of the last few seasons, one of the most reliable components of the Houston Astros has been starting pitcher Framber Valdez.

The veteran is set to hit the open market during the 2025-2026 MLB offseason, and he initially was expected to get a pretty huge sum of money according to many projections. However, over the course of the last month, things have gone terribly wrong for him.

As a pitcher who has been highly depended upon recently, it is clear that his utilization numbers are quite high. But late in this 2025 campaign, he has really struggled to gain any traction and return to form. This continued into his latest start against the Seattle Mariners, a critical game, in which they lost.

Now, with only a few games left in the regular season, and likely one more start for Valdez, if the team makes the postseason, it is going to be difficult to get his value back up in such a short period of time. As for the impact on the Astros, he has certainly hurt their chances at building some momentum.

What Type of Production Has Valdez Had Over the Last Month?

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From Aug. 20 to Sept. 20, Valdez had one of the worst stretches of pitching production of his whole career. In six starts, he went 32.2 innings, allowing a 7.16 ERA, 5.10 FIP, with 26 strikeouts, 16 walks, five home runs, 27 total runs and only 58 strikes swinging in 551 pitches. He put together a 1-5 record during that span of time, and things look even worse when you look back to his last 10 starts overall, as pointed out by MLB.com.

Framber Valdez is 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in his last 10 starts. The Astros are 1-9 in those starts.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) September 21, 2025

It is certainly a concerning period of time for Valdez as he continues to just put together less-than-optimal starts. Against the Mariners on Saturday, he went 4.2 innings, allowing five earned runs, a home run and four walks while only accruing four strikeouts before being removed from the game. In four of his last six starts, he has allowed at least five earned runs, which is not normal for the reliable veteran.

He is now costing the team wins, which makes his starts even more difficult to deal with, raising his ERA by around half a point in only six consecutive starts. It will be intriguing to see if he can overcome these issues in the last few weeks of the year or if this is just something that Houston will have to deal with for the remainder of 2025.