Once a dominant force in the rotation, the rookie’s recent inability to pitch past the fourth inning exposes a fragile bullpen and clouds his future as a starter.
At one point this season, Tigers fans were saying, to a degree, that they wouldn’t be as mad about losing Tarik Skubal in a trade because of the way Keider Montero was pitching.
Whether Tigers skipper A.J. Hinch had Montero coming out of the bullpen or starting games, Montero was on a dominating streak.
From April 10 through June 11, Montero made 11 starts, with 10 of those starts going five innings or more. The lone exception was a 4.2-inning day at the office.
Then, he was forced into a bullpen role due to the influx of pitching the Tigers had, where Montero continued to excel and became one of the lone bullpen pitchers the Tigers could rely on.
Then the Tigers ultimately traded away not just Tarik Skubal, but starting pitcher Casey Mize as well, which opened the door for Montero to reenter the starting rotation.
He was pitching late into games, but was starting to look more like a roller coaster pitcher than the knockout Tyson-type pitcher Tigers fans had seen earlier in the season. He allowed more than four runs in a game for the first time all season, and he did it twice in three games.
Then the calendar flipped to September, and whether it’s fatigue, injury or whatever it may be, Montero has seen a drop in his ability to carry the team late into games.
Montero has now pitched three consecutive games where he finished unqualified for a win due to going just four innings in each of the three games.
Against Cleveland early in the month, Montero allowed six runs on eight hits. He followed that up with a good two-hit, two-run day against the Twins, but still couldn’t get Hinch’s approval to go back out for the fifth inning.
Then yesterday, Montero again struggled, allowing six hits and walking another two. Though only two runs came across while he was pitching, he again was unable to go far into the game, which then made room for one of the worst bullpens in MLB to come out and drop the game even more.
That’s the problem with Montero’s lack of success and inability to go late into games over the past couple of weeks.
The Tigers boast a putrid bullpen that hasn’t been able to get a grip on the season for its entirety.
So with Montero giving way to the bullpen at this clip, it’s almost becoming more apparent that, if this isn’t an injury derailing his season, the idea of him being a full-time starter next year and beyond for Detroit might not be the right move.
Instead, it seems like it’d be better to have Montero be a full-time late-inning guy, especially since the Tigers’ current late-inning options are either a walking mummy or a bunch of ghouls.
Or, have him and another pitcher go for a two-in-one type of start where one pitcher goes the first five innings and the second goes the final four.
Preferably, something along the lines of Reese Olson getting the nod and Montero coming in to close out the game. If all goes well, this would spell a lot of the bullpen on these days.
But I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibilities to try to turn Montero into one of the next great Tigers closers.
Only time will tell what becomes of Montero, but if his last three outings are any indication, it’s not looking great for the once-beloved Tiger who just goes to work every day and does the best he can do.
