This past Tuesday (8/1/23), Frambler Valdez of the Houston Astros did the impossible by throwing a no-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians. The 29-year-old hails from the Dominican Republic and has had unusual twists and turns over the years. Valdez had pitched 5 complete games including two complete games.
Typically, Frambler Valdez relies on getting groundouts to stand out in a game and Tuesday’s game was no different. He entered the game first in the AL groundball percentage at 54.2. Luckily, 12 of Valdez’s outs in the game were groundouts. Frambler Valdez no hitter was the 3rd in the majors this season. However, it was Astros’ first no-hitter in a regular season. This was after Hector Neris, Ryan Pressly, and Cristian Javier did it on 25th June 2022. Be that as it may, it was the first no-hitter made by a single pitcher after Verlander did it against Toronto on 1st September 2019.
After the game, Valdez seemed ecstatic and admitted that he was not focused in the last couple of games. However, he accepted that today he came to the game very positive, focused, and ready to leave everything he got on the field. It surely paid off and he managed to throw a no-hitter. It was a good game and a great night for Valdez.
