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Framber Valdez hasn't been good enough for Tigers, who lose to Twins

The Detroit Tigers signed left-hander Framber Valdez to a three-year, $115 million contract in February 2026, giving him the largest average annual salary ever for a left-handed pitcher in free agency.

His results haven't been good enough.

The 32-year-old surrendered four runs across five innings in the Tigers' 6-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, June 10, in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park.

Valdez owns a 4.40 ERA in 14 starts.

The Tigers have a 28-40 record – becoming the fourth MLB team to reach 40 losses in the 2026 season, following the Colorado Rockies (42 losses), Los Angeles Angels (42 losses) and San Francisco Giants (41 losses).

Still, the Tigers are 6-2 in June.

On the mound

The rain delay lasted 67 minutes.

Valdez completed a scoreless first inning, then inclement weather put the game on pause between the top of the first and bottom of the first inning.

Framber Valdez of the Detroit Tigers pitches the ball against the Minnesota Twins during the top of the first inning at Comerica Park on June 10, 2026 in Detroit.

Despite the delay, Valdez returned for the second inning – only to surrender a solo home run to Royce Lewis with two outs.

He left a sinker up in the zone and paid the price for the poor location, as Lewis hit the pitch 444 feet to left-center field with a 107.6 mph exit velocity.

Entering Wednesday, Valdez – known as an elite ground-ball pitcher – had a career-high 25.3% fly-ball rate, with a career-low 49.3% ground-ball rate.

It's been the biggest reason for his struggles.

The biggest swing occurred when Byron Buxton blasted a first-pitch, middle-away changeup for a three-run home run to left-center field, but the damage wouldn't have been the same if not for back-to-back hit-by-pitches by Valdez.

He hit Alex Jackson in the foot.

Then he hit Austin Martin in the hand.

After that, Buxton unloaded for a three-run home run – putting the Twins ahead, 4-1.

Valdez surrendered four runs on six hits and two walks (plus two hit-by-pitches) with two strikeouts across five innings, throwing just 60% of his 75 pitches for strikes.

There are two reasons to be concerned: He isn't generating enough ground balls with his sinker, and he isn't generating enough swings and misses with his curveball.

At the plate

The Tigers nearly mounted a comeback.

It helped that the Twins entered Wednesday's game with the third-worst bullpen among the 30 MLB teams.

The Tigers took advantage with a single from Zach McKinstry, walk from Kevin McGonigle and single from Gleyber Torres to load the bases with one out against right-handed reliever Andrew Morris in the fifth inning.

Kerry Carpenter delivered.

He ripped a ground-ball single that deflected off the glove of second baseman Luke Keaschall and ended up in right field, scoring in both McKinstry and McGonigle.

The two-run single cut the Tigers' deficit to 4-3.

But the Twins stormed right back.

The Twins scored two runs in the seventh inning.

The first runs made it a 5-3 advantage, as Josh Bell hit a two-run single up the middle against left-handed reliever Drew Sommers. Both runs were charged to right-handed reliever Ty Madden, who began the inning with a walk and a single. After that, the Twins boosted their lead to 6-3 on Sommers' wild pitch.

The Tigers' bullpen continues to be a weakness.

Sommers and Madden are top candidates to be optioned to Triple-A Toledo within the next few days as three starters – left-hander Tarik Skubal, right-hander Casey Mize and right-hander Justin Verlander – return from the injured list.

The Tigers scored one run on Dillon Dingler's single off right-handed reliever Yoendrys Gómez with two outs in the ninth inning for a 6-4 deficit, but it was too little, too late.

Riley Greene struck out swinging to end the game.

Next up

The Tigers and Twins meet again Thursday (1:10 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) in the finale of the three-game series after the American League Central foes split the first two games.

The pitching matchup?

It's right-hander Keider Montero for the Tigers and right-hander Zebby Matthews for the Twins.

Montero has a 3.95 ERA in 12 starts, but the Tigers could move him to the bullpen within the next week due to the impending returns of left-hander Tarik Skubal, right-hander Casey Mize and right-hander Justin Verlander from the injured list.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers need more from Framber Valdez after loss to Twins

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