The Houston Astros (76-63) have a big September ahead, and although they usually find a way through tough times, they cannot afford to sleep-walk through the end of the regular season in a tricky American League West. Staying focused on the big picture will be harder to do if there are in-house distractions.
Franchise-great Framber Valdez raised many eyebrows in an incident with catcher César Salazar during Tuesday night's 7-1 loss to the New York Yankees.
Trailing 2-0 in the fifth inning, the two-time All-Star starting pitcher and 2022 World Series champion allowed a back-breaking grand slam to breakout center fielder Trent Grisham. Before Valdez tossed the doomed sinker, Salazar motioned to him to step off the mound. The 31-year-old southpaw went through his motion and delivered the pitch. Following the brutal sequence, Valdez throws a pitch high for a ball. Then came one of the most tense and surprising situations between battery mates in recent memory (or maybe ever).
Salazar, clearly expecting a breaking ball, gets hit in his chest protector with a sinker. Valdez quickly turns around, expressing… interesting body language, and Salazar throws the ball back to him while sporting a visibly miffed look on his face. Somehow, the teammates managed to get through the at-bat and retire Anthony Volpe on a groundout to end the half-inning. Credit to the 29-year-old catcher for maintaining his composure.
There’s speculation that Astros pitcher Framber Valdez purposely crossed up his catcher Cesar Salazar and hit him with this pitch after Salazar told him to step off before allowing a grand slam pic.twitter.com/ds3c9MzQV6
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 3, 2025
Astros deny any ill will
The professionalism did not stop there. Salazar actually accepted accountability for the cross-up, claiming to reporters after the game that he pressed the wrong button on PitchCom. Miscommunications certainly happen and technology can be tricky, but most people who watched the exchange are unlikely to conclude that this was simply a blunder. Whatever transpired during that Volpe plate appearance obviously concerned Joe Espada enough to take action.
“Both Framber Valdez and César Salazar were pulled into the manager's office after tonight's game,” Chandler Rome of The Athletic posted on X. “Afterward, Valdez said through an interpreter that he apologized to Salazar, but said the cross-up was not intentional. More to come.”
Every instant reaction of those involved implies that something fishy occurred, but they extinguished the flames with their post-game remarks. The two players even emphasized their great relationship with one another. While that may be true, the optics are rough.
Nevertheless, this franchise knows how to handle adversity and negative media attention. If there is a problem, the Astros will make it extremely difficult to obtain any intel in public. They will try to regroup from this beatdown in Daikin Park and bounce back on Wednesday.
