Valdez's agent: Pitcher intentionally hurting teammate is 'preposterous'

Framber Valdez's agent backed up his client Wednesday after he appeared to intentionally hit Houston Astros catcher César Salazar during Tuesday's loss to the New York Yankees.

"The idea that he's intentionally trying to injure one of his teammates is preposterous," Ulises Cabrera told Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.

"It's a complete lack of respect for who he is as a person and who he is as a player. And his body of work demonstrates that. Anything to the contrary is just completely misguided and it's not right."

Valdez hit Salazar in the chest with a 93-mph sinker two pitches after allowing a grand slam to Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham. Salazar had waved for Valdez to step off the mound before the pitch to Grisham, but the left-hander didn't.

The two Astros teammates downplayed the incident after the game, calling it a cross-up due to an error with PitchCom.

"I think he's surprised," Cabrera said of how Valdez felt after the incident. "Because in no way, shape, or form does the starting pitcher intentionally try to hurt his teammate.

"Mix-ups happen all the time, just like a pitcher shaking all the time. This is just not an issue. But it does become an issue when people question Framber's quality as a teammate and his interest in defending his fellow players in the dugout on the field. He messed up, he admitted it, he got mixed up, done. But to suggest anything other than that is just wrong and it's not acceptable."

The 31-year-old Valdez has won 80 games in 1,058 innings for Houston. He's expected to be one of the top starting pitchers available in free agency after the season.