ANDl dominican Framber Valdez will start the Houston Astros for the first game of the World Series against the Braves from Atlanta on Tuesday night.
The manager Dusty Baker announced Sunday that Valdez will have the honor, but he indicated that the team has not yet decided on the opener for the second game.
The 27-year-old left-hander will be in a duel with Charlie Morton, who pitched for Houston in 2017-18. obtaining the victory in the seventh game of the 2017 World Series.
Valdez pitched eight spectacular innings in a 9-1 victory in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series. In the first meeting, he allowed three runs in 2 2/3 innings.
The Astros didn’t offer much up-to-date information on the health of ace Lance McCullers Jr., who was pulled from the AL championship series roster due to a right arm injury. McCullers hasn’t started pitching, but general manager James Click isn’t ruling out his return.
“We are not taking anything off the table,” Click said. “Let’s see how he is doing. This is the World Series, so obviously it’s something I know Lance wants to be involved in. to be possible. So we will talk with the doctors, with him and with the coaches and we will go from there. “
Houston will also wait before making a decision on center fielder Jake Meyers, who was on the series roster against Boston but did not play while recovering from a shoulder injury. The rookie was injured in the last game of the divisional series, and Chas McCormick and José Siri they took over the field against the Red Sox.
The Astros too are considering their options on how to bring Cuban slugger Yordan Álvarez into the lineup when the series moves to Atlanta for Game 3 and they lose the designated hitter position.