Framber Valdez got the start in game one against the New York Yankees. In the fifth inning, he gave up a grand slam to Trent Grisham. Just before the pitch, Cesar Salazar, the Astros catcher, signaled for Valdez to step off the mound. Valdez didn't and gave up a grand slam.
After giving up the grand slam to go down 6-0, Anthony Volpe stepped into the box. Valdez's first pitch crossed up Salazar, hitting the Astros catcher in the chest. Speculation grew that it was intentional, based on how Valdez immediately turned around after hitting Salazar with the crossed-up pitch.
With the moment going viral, there were bound to be questions asked postgame about the fifth-inning incident. After the game, in a piece from Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Valdez cleared the air on the controversy with him crossing up Cesar Salazar.
Valdez Clears the Air on Crossing-Up Cesar Salazar
"He's my teammate," Valdez said through an interpreter. "He's always here for me. I don't ever want to cause any harm to my teammate. It was something that I excused myself with. I (got) crossed up by mistake, and I hit him by mistake."
Valdez cleared the air, saying the cross-up was unintentional. But the incident still occurred, which wasn't helped by the fact that earlier in the year, Valdez had critiqued the defensive alignment during one of his starts.
He's in a contract year and is set to hit the open market after the 2025 season. These two moments aren't a good way to get on the organization's good side, even if this Salazar cross-up was an accident.
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Valdez did apologize to his catcher both in the dugout and after the game, but the optics of the situation don't look great for Valdez. Once the game was over, and before players were interviewed, according to Rome, both Valdez and Salazar were pulled into the manager's office.
Both Framber Valdez and César Salazar were pulled into the manager's office after tonight's game. Afterward, Valdez said through an interpreter that he apologized to Salazar, but said the cross-up was not intentional. More to come.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) September 3, 2025
Joe Espada talked with both Salazar and Valdez, and afterwards, with Valdez apologizing to Salazar, and Salazar taking it in stride, the moment seems to have been defused. But the controversial cross-up still occurred, and it garnered a lot of attention nationally.
Between this moment and Valdez calling out the Astros' defensive alignment during one of his prior starts, there have been a couple of moments of frustration for Valdez this season.
This moment garnered a lot of attention, with speculation growing that he intentionally crossed up Salazar in frustration over giving up a grand slam. While he cleared the air and apologized to Salazar for the accident, it's still not a great look for the veteran Astros pitcher.
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