AJ Hinch kind of threw Framber Valdez under the bus as Tigers face near future without him

A month into the regular season, the Detroit Tigers have a sudden reminder of the risk they took with signing Framber Valdez.

As a pitcher, Valdez has cemented his status as a top-of-the-rotation arm, but as a person, several character concerns were clouding his free agency. Concerns resurfaced dramatically on Tuesday when Valdez was ejected from the Tigers' game against the Boston Red Sox after plunking Trevor Story.

Different circumstances, but a similar result for Valdez and an incident that occurred during the closing weeks of his time with the Astros. Valdez clearly crossed up his own catcher, and when caught, he gaslit the public with his response.

The circumstances make it clear that Valdez was targeting Story on Tuesday. He wasn't fooling Boston's hitter, and rather than take one for the team and eat innings, Valdez plunked Story with the hope that he would get ejected from the game. Add in the benches clearing, and that is exactly how the events unfolded on Tuesday.

Naturally, Valdez wasn't going to admit this when speaking with reporters after the game. The 32-year-old wants you to ignore what you know about these situations (and who Valdez is), and believe that he wasn't trying to hit the Red Sox's shortstop.

A.J. Hinch was less diplomatic when talking about what happened between Valdez and the Red Sox. Normally, in these situations, a manager will come to the defense of their player. It's what the Astros immediately did with Valdez last season, and given the past connections Hinch has to the veteran starting pitcher, conventional wisdom would suggest he would have done the same.

Leave it to A.J. Hinch to say what needed to be said

Instead, the Tigers manager didn't just walk up to the line of throwing Valdez under the bus; he may have crossed it.

"We play a really good brand of baseball here," Hinch said. "That didn't feel like it. I'm not judging intent. But I know when you go out on the field in those confrontations, you usually feel like you are in your right. It didn't feel good being out there."

Sometimes, you just need call a spade a spade. Valdez was clearly in the wrong on Tuesday night, and he has now put the Tigers in a terrible position. The Tigers' rotation is already without Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Justin Verlander. With a suspension looming, it feels likely that Valdez won't be making his next scheduled start for the Tigers.

Sure, the Tigers were aggressive with their pursuit of Valdez at the end of the offseason, but perhaps they forgot the headaches he can cause a team behind the scenes. Or, in this case, for the whole world to see.

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