Phillips Valdez is making sure he stays with the Boston Red Sox.
The pitcher threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings in Boston's 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night at Fenway Park. Valdez struck out two while allowing two hits.
The strong outing comes after Friday's solid performance when he struck out seven New York Yankees in three scoreless innings after taking over for Eduardo Rodriguez after he was dealing with migraine issues.
Nick Pivetta, who surrendered four earned runs over 4 2/3 innings, had nothing but high praise for Valdez after the game.
"Valdez has been doing amazing since he's come back up," Pivetta told reporters over Zoom. "That's the pitcher who he is. He's been pitching with a lot of confidence, he's been using his changeup really really well and he's been a solid guy for us since he's gotten back. I'm very, very happy with him. I played with Phillips when I was with the Nationals, so me and him have a history, and to see him come in after me was really exciting. He did a tremendous again tonight."
Valdez was recalled from Triple-A Worcester last week after Hirokazu Sawamura was placed on the 10-day injured list with right tricep inflammation.
Should Valdez continue to impress, Alex Cora may have some tough decisions to make in the future.
