A bizarre sequence during a crucial point in Tuesday night’s Yankees/Astros series opener had fans wondering if Houston’s star pitcher had plunked his own catcher in the chest on purpose.
With the Yanks leading 2-0 in the fifth, Framber Valdez prepared to throw a 1-0 pitch to Trent Grisham, looking to escape a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the inning. Just before Valdez began his windup, catcher Cesar Salazar motioned for his pitcher to step off the mound and reset, perhaps believing the two weren’t fully in sync for the upcoming pitch. Valdez did not heed his catcher’s call, and instead fired a sinker right down the middle that Grisham cranked into the Crawford Boxes, breaking the game open with a grand slam en route to a breezy win for the Bombers.
The truly odd sequence came two pitches later, when Valdez fired a 1-0 fastball to Anthony Volpe that Salazar was clearly not expecting, and the heater plunked Salazar directly in the chest protector. Salazar seemed to be anticipating a breaking ball, and as the ball banged off his equipment and rolled toward the Astros dugout, Salazar stared back at his pitcher through his mask, while Valdez turned around and stared towards the outfield, not bothering to check on his battery mate.
Salazar seemed frustrated as he got a new ball from the umpire and tossed it back to Valdez, but if he was feeling any ire towards his teammate, he restrained himself. But after the game, according to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome, both Valdez and Salazar were summoned by bench coach Omar Lopez and brought into manager Joe Espada’s office. When the two returned, Valdez told reporters through his interpreter that the fastball to Salazar’s belly was not on purpose.
Per Rome, Tuesday night was not the first time Valdez had to have a closed-door discussion with Espada, as he publicly took issue with Houston’s defensive alignment after a loss back in July.
As for the incident with Valdez and Salazar, the two dismissed the idea that there was intent from Valdez, but the video certainly hints that there could be more to that story.