Framber Valdez appeared to make a bad day even worse on purpose on Tuesday when he drilled Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story in the back with a 94 mph pitch.
The Detroit Tigers’ starting pitcher had already given up 10 runs by the middle of the fourth inning. So, after back-to-back home runs by Wilson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu, almost no one thought Framber Valdez hitting Story in the back with a fastball was an accident. That includes, by the sound of it, Valdez’s manager A.J. Hinch.
“I understand their frustration, I understand the optics, I understand the whole thing. We play a really good brand of baseball here, that didn’t feel like it,” A.J. Hinch said after the 10-3 loss to Boston. “That’s not judging intent, I have no idea, but I know when you go out on the field and you end up sort of in those confrontations you usually feel like you’re in your right. It didn’t feel good being out there, so I understand their frustrations, I understand the moment and it was a low moment of a frustrating night.”
Framber Valdez claimed that he hit Trevor Story unintentionally, but he didn’t put up any fight when he was ejected from the game. “It was not on purpose. It might look like that, but it wasn’t,” said Valdez.
Trevor Story disagrees with Framber Valdez’s claim
“I was in there ready to hit and it showed up way behind me, off the numbers,” Story said after the game. “I think we all know what’s what. It’s pretty indisputable.”
The Red Sox broadcast booth also made it clear what they thought about Framber Valdez hitting Trevor Story in the back.
“That’s tired. That’s so tired,” the NESN analyst said. “You can’t get them out, so you throw at ’em, what a joke. … The one guy who caused it is hiding in the back. … Well, let’s just hope he doesn’t cross up his catcher now because he is mad.”
The Red Sox analyst was referring to an incident that happened in Sept. 2025 when Framber Valdez, then with the Astros, appeared to intentionally drill his catcher, Oscar Salazar, after giving up a grand slam home run against the New York Yankees.
Were the Red Sox relaying pitches from second base?
According to former Major League Baseball player Eric Hosmer, the Red Sox were relaying what pitch was coming to the batter from second base. That, he says, is really why Framber Valdez drilled Trevor Story.