Two updates, one positive and one negative, emerged from Houston Astros camp on Friday. It was revealed that Framber Valdez will start Opening Day for the third consecutive season, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. However, Jose Urquidy reportedly suffered an elbow injury during a minor league outing Friday and is currently being evaluated, per McTaggart as well.
The Astros are rumored to be interested in adding more starting pitching. Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers Jr. are also battling injures, so Houston may look to sign a free agent such as Blake Snell.
Valdez starting Opening Day
The 30-year-old left-hander has emerged as an ace over the past few years. He's pitched in exactly 31 games over the past two seasons, and has averaged right around 200 innings per year during that span.
Valdez pitched to a 3.45 ERA across 198 innings in 2023. He added a career-high 200 strikeouts. Houston is counting on Valdez to lead the charge in 2024 amid Houston's injury concerns.
And those concerns will be worth closely monitoring.
Astros may look to make addition before Opening Day
Chandler Rome of The Athletic recently mentioned Blake Snell as a possible free agent target for Houston. Jordan Montgomery and Michael Lorenzen remain unsigned as well.
Houston has a fairly deep rotation when healthy. At the moment, though, this rotation has a plethora of injury concerns. The Astros are hoping for a positive update on Urquidy, but even if he returns without issue the Astros still have pitching uncertainty.
It would not be surprising to see the Astros continue to be linked to starting pitchers as Opening Day draws near. Houston could also try to make a trade, but the free agency route appears to be more likely right now.
Framber Valdez will start Opening Day, but will there be a new star joining him in the rotation before the 2024 season gets underway?
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