Astros fans are fed up with Framber Valdez after childish stunt against Yankees

The internet was ablaze with speculation following a situation that occured on Tuesday night between Houston Astros starter Framber Valdez and his catcher César Salazar. The Astros' lefty gave up a grand slam to Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham in the top of the fifth inning, and two pitches later, crossed up his battery mate in what some are speculating was a purposeful attempt to drill his own teammate.

But Valdez wouldn't hit his teammate on purpose, would he? Uh, yeah, he would. And frankly, anyone who can't see that must've left their glasses at home. Valdez was visibly upset after handing the Yankees a 6-0 lead, and rather than get the final out of the inning, tried to send a message to his young backstop.

Astros fans are fed up with Framber Valdez after childish stunt against Yankees

For his part, Valdez expressed regret after the game, saying he took full responsibility for the incident and apologized to Salazar. This is just the latest example of the childish attitude that Valdez has displayed all season, and it's a reminder of why Houston should just send the southpaw on his way once he reaches free agency this coming winter.

In case you missed it, the incident occured during the top of the fifth inning. The Yankees loaded the bases with one out before Valdez struck out Giancarlo Stanton. With two outs and the bases juiced, Valdez came way inside on his first offering to Grisham.

Prior to Valdez's second pitch of the at-bat, he can be seen shaking off his catcher — so whatever pitch Salazar called for, Valdez didn't like it. The Astros catcher is then seen waving his pitcher off, but Valdez confidently delivers the 1-0 pitch anyway and Grisham promptly deposited it into the Crawford Boxes to give the Yankees a 6-0 lead.

After going up and away to the Yankees next batter, Valdez then comes inside with a 93 mph sinker that plunks his catcher. This is such a childish and petulant way to react after you gave up a home run. Rather than own the fact that he gave up a meatball to Grisham on a pitch that Salazar didn't like, Valdez took out his frustrations on his catcher.

Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported that after the game, both Valdez and Salazar were pulled into Joe Espada's office. If that meeting didn't include Espada absolutely berating his pitcher, then this type of nonsense is going to continue.

This isn't the first time the Astros have seen Framber Valdez lose his cool

Let's not forget that this is the same pitcher who was whining and crying just over a month ago about the Astros' defensive positioning in a game against the Nationals. Valdez threw outfielder Taylor Trammell under the bus for playing too far to his right on a play that resulted in a run.

“I don’t have to ask the coaches about that (defensive alignment),” Valdez said after the game against the Nats. “I feel like baseball is a game of common sense. With me as a lefty pitcher, they don’t hit a lot of fly balls against me.”

Valdez is a talented pitcher, but there's tremendous value in being a good teammate. The other eight players on the field are a big reason that Valdez — a ground ball pitcher — is going to reap the benefits and cash a big check this offseason. His act has grown tiresome, and quite frankly, his free agency can't come soon enough.

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