Framber Valdez Looks to Continue Comerica Park Success in Tigers Home Opener
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The Detroit Tigers have arrived in Detroit and will host the St. Louis Cardinals for their 2026 home opener, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:10 P.M. EST. The Tigers send out top free agent addition, Framber Valdez, to the mound to make his first start at Comerica Park as a Tiger.
A large reason that Valdez and Detroit reached an agreement was due to the success Valdez had when on the mound, pitching quality game after quality game. And just because this is his first start on the mound of Comerica Park as a Tiger doesn't mean he's never stepped on the mound before.
Valdez is in search of his first win as a member of the Tigers, and luckily for him and the fans, he's been dominant on the mound in Detroit throughout his career.
The Impressive Stats of Valdez Pitching at Comerica
His first start for Detroit was very successful, pitching through six innings, striking out five, walking one, and allowing two runs, one earned run. But that was in San Diego against the Padres, and when pitching at Comerica Park throughout his career, La Grasa has been a stud.
Valdez has pitched in seven games at Comerica Park in his career, six of them being starts. On top of that, he holds a 2-2 record at his new home, pitching in 39 innings, allowing just 16 runs, which equates to a 3.69 ERA.
The stat that sticks out for Valdez is the strikeouts. He struck out 187 batters last season, and in his career pitching in Detroit, Valdez has struck out 29 batters, only allowing two home runs along the way.
In a world of baseball where starting pitchers rarely go the distance, Valdez can say he has done so twice, happening at Comerica Park. He has thrown nine complete games in his career, meaning 22.2% of his complete games come at Comerica Park, a pitcher-friendly ballpark.
Framber Valdez vs. Cardinals Career Numbers
The career numbers for Valdez against the Cardinals in his career haven't been pretty, but it's only been a small sample size. Pitching in 10 innings across two games, Valdez has a 9.90 ERA. Luckily, this Cardinals team isn't the same one it used to be just last year.
Valdez's curveball, mixed with the dotting of his fastball, will give the Tigers the best chance to secure a home opener victory, so long as the offense wakes up from their shutout spell.
Dominic Minchella is a 2024 Eastern Michigan University graduate with a BA in Communications, Media, and Theatre Arts and a Journalism minor. He covers Major League Baseball for On SI and spends his free time watching games and sharing his insights.