Left-handed Astros Framber Valdez dramatically rises from $10,000 signup to World Series 1 game start – The Athletic

Roger Clemens, Dallas Keuchel, Gerrit Cole and … Frame Valdez?

On Tuesday night against brave at Minute Maid Park, Valdez will join an all-time great, recent Cy Young Award winner and American League top shooter for the past four years on the list of starting pitchers. Match 1 World for Astros.

Even two October ago, when Valdez wasn’t even a legitimate contender for a spot in the team’s post-season standings, such an outcome seemed unfathomable. But Valdez defied the odds and proved everyone wrong long before these last two seasons. His rise from lottery ticket 10,000 signers coming out of the Dominican Republic at the age of 21 to pitch on baseball’s biggest stage is so remarkable that no one can reasonably see it coming.

“It’s been exciting for me to be a starter in Game 1 of the World Series,” Valdez said Monday through an interpreter. “It’s something I never really thought about when I was a kid. I just didn’t realize what it meant. But when I got into baseball and started to realize the impact it has on you both on and off the field, that’s when I started dying and looking forward to being able to be a part of the postseason, yes. could be part of the team and obviously a starter in the World Series. It is an honor for me. That is a privilege.