Charming Framber Valdez anecdotes make Tigers fans optimistic for rotation's future

The start of Framber Valdez's tenure with the Tigers hasn't exactly been ideal. Not only has he struggled on the mound since signing his three-year, $115 million deal in February, he didn't give fans much reason to believe he's working hard to fix his public image after his dustup with Trevor Story and the Red Sox in May.

That incident still carries weight with Tigers fans. Tarik Skubal had just gone onto the IL and was set to undergo surgery, leaving it up to Valdez to carry the rotation in his absence. Instead, he got himself suspended. If the pitch that hit Story was indeed intentional, it means Valdez chose his pride over the good of the team.

His turnaround in June — he has a 2.45 ERA this month — has redeemed him somewhat in the eyes of fans and, at the end of the day, we don't need our ace to be the most likable guy in the world as long as he's executing.

But, for what it's worth, his teammates have only good things to say about him. Dillon Dingler, the guy who really need to get along with Valdez, said he's a "jokester" who's "great to be around." He offered an anecdote: recently, while on his iPad in the dugout, he discovered that Valdez had downloaded a widget that greeted Dingler with a pop-up selfie just to say hi.

Framber Valdez is getting rave reviews from teammates despite rocky start with Tigers

AJ Hinch, Valdez's first manager in the majors, didn't mince words when Valdez hit Story. "We play a really good brand of baseball here," he said at the time. "That didn't feel like it."

His tune has changed since then. "He wants to be part of it. I don't know if that was anything that bothered him on the front end of the season, but he is obviously more comfortable," Hinch said of Valdez. "His routines are getting better, he's starting to lock in why things are going well or why things aren’t going well. He's gotta continue to trust himself with the ball on the ground."

Maybe all Valdez needed was some time to settle in. Although we'll be the first to admit that we wish it'd happened sooner, the rotation should be in good hands if what we're seeing from him now is going to be the norm going forward. We can only hope.

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