Adam Ottavino calls Framber Valdez incident nefarious before ESPN debut
Former Yankees pitcher Adam Ottavino calls the Framber Valdez incident "nefarious" on the eve of his ESPN booth debut.
Adam Ottavino has not worked a game in the ESPN booth yet, but the veteran of 15 years in the big leagues is not going to be nervous to call it as he sees it. Just a year removed from the clubhouse, Ottavino made that clear on Wednesday, a day before his analyst debut with ESPN for the St. Louis Cardinals - San Diego Padres game.
He didn’t hedge when asked about the controversy of the day: Detroit Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez drilling Trevor Story up and in with a 94-mile an hour fastball on Tuesday night, one pitch after the Tigers’ lefty surrendered back-to-back home runs to the Boston Red Sox . Benches cleared. Valdez was ejected and on Wednesday afternoon MLB suspended him six games .
Tigers manager A. J. Hinch, who was clearly unhappy with Valdez’s stunt, was suspended one game.
Ottavino, who has been hosting his own podcast since leaving the game, did not hedge. “Did I think it was intentional? Yes.