HUSTON — Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson says he’s not concerned about Houston starter Framber Valdez’s unusual hand rub during Game 2 of the World Series, playing down speculation on social media that the left-hander did something rough during a dominant win .
Videos that circulated online showed Valdez repeatedly rubbing his left thumb against his right palm, then rubbing the ball between pitches. Valdez pitched the shutout in the seventh inning of the Astros’ 5-2 victory that tied the Series at one apiece.
Thomson said the Philadelphia bullpen noticed what Valdez was doing but had no concern that he was adding a foreign substance to the ball.
“Yes we did… it’s all on Twitter,” he said. “The umpires check these guys after almost every at-bat, and if something is going on, MLB will take care of it.”
Valdez found it amusing that people thought he was controlling the ball.
“No one should think of it as something the wrong way,” he said through a translator. “I do it in the open. But they are all trends I do. I do it throughout the game. Maybe distract the attacker a bit from what I’m doing. Like maybe you see me, rubbing different things, and nothing about the pitch I’m about to throw. I’ve been doing that all season.”
Valdez allowed four hits and one run on nine strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings for his sixth win of the postseason. That ties Pedro Martinez for most playoff wins by a pitcher born in the Dominican Republic.
Suspicions of illegal catch assists peaked during the 2021 season, prompting Major League Baseball to crack down on in-game umpire checks.
During Game 3 of an NL wild-card series, New York Mets manager Buck Showalter asked the umpires to inspect San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove for illegal plays. They searched the righty in several places, including rubbing his extremely shiny ears, but found no evidence of anything illegal.
Valdez said the hand rub is just one of the unorthodox things he likes to do when he pitches. In the middle of his Saturday outing, he changed his glove and spikes — and it turns out — a few other things, too.
“I usually have different points when I get hot and what I come into the game,” he said. “Today I decided to start the game with those who warmed up. I had a long meeting there and I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to change everything. I will change the handle, the belt, the palaces.’ And these are just things that we Dominicans do, just some trends here and there … but just things to stay free.”
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