Astros' Cesar Salazar throws subtle shade at Framber Valdez after cross-up

Matt Sullivan

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Astros' Cesar Salazar throws subtle shade at Framber Valdez after cross-up image

During the Houston Astros' 7-1 loss to the New York Yankees, the bulk of the offense from New York came on a fifth-inning grand slam from Trent Grisham.

Before the pitch from Framber Valdez, which gave up the grand slam, Cesar Salazar, the Astros catcher, was trying to get Valdez to step off the mound. Instead, the pitch came in, and Grisham hit it for a grand slam.

On his next pitch, Valdez crossed up Salazar, hitting him in the chest with a sinker. After the game, in a post from Space City Sports on Twitter/X, Salazar spoke with reporters about the incident. There, he threw some subtle shade at Valdez for the moment.

Cesar Salazar Throws Shade at Framber Valdez

"No, didn't get crossed up." Salazar said, "Like I said, there was a good amount of Yankees fans, so it was pretty loud for the Grand Slam. Maybe my pitch com wasn't in the right spot, so I pressed the wrong button, you know?"

While Salazar didn't explicitly blame Valdez or call Valdez out, he did specifically mention the Grand Slam as a possible reason for the cross-up in the fifth inning.

It's some subtle shade at Valdez, as Salazar could've worded things differently to not mention the Grand Slam, instead focusing on just the Yankees fans being loud, and accidentally hitting the wrong pitch on the pitch-com device.

After the game, as Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports, both Salazar and Valdez were pulled into Joe Espada's office. Valdez apologized both postgame and right after the moment in the dugout.

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Valdez and Salazar both say it was an accident, but the mannerisms of Valdez on the mound afterwards, turning his back to Salazar, didn't paint a positive picture.

While the moment went viral, with plenty of speculation over whether it was intentional or not, the comments from both Valdez and Salazar say it was an accident. But, it still isn't a good look, especially with all of the context of the moment.

It was the first pitch after the grand slam, and after Salazar called for Valdez to step off the mound. Valdez earlier in the year called out the Astros' defensive alignment, so this moment wouldn't be the first controversial moment with Valdez and the Astros in 2025.

Salazar got an apology from Valdez, but that didn't stop him postgame from throwing some subtle shade at Valdez over the moment. It's a small comment, but identifying the Grand Slam and the loud Yankees fans as the reason for the cross-up is a subtle shot at Valdez, the pitcher who surrendered the Grand Slam.

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Matt Sullivan

Matt Sullivan is a freelance writer for The Sporting News, predominantly covering MLB. Matt is a native of Pennsylvania and has worked with Athlon Sports, Last Word on Sports, and other outlets.