How Keider Montero’s Breakthrough Has Rescued Detroit Tigers Pitching Staff
Detroit Tigers starter Keider Montero made headlines last week when he threw a complete game shutout on just 96 pitches.
It was an exciting moment for the rookie. It was an exciting moment for his manager, A.J. Hinch.
It gave his starting rotation and his pitching staff some much-needed relief.
“That complete game shutout came at a perfect time to reset our rotation for a long stretch of games with Baltimore, Kansas City and Baltimore (again), where we're asking guys to pitch virtually every day,” he said to MLB Network on Tuesday.
Montero’s big week — which include five more shutout innings in his last start against Baltimore on Sunday — earned him American League Player of the Week honors.
The right-hander has been a source of ballast for the Tigers’ rotation since July when he joined it consistently. What Hinch hopes to get out of each starter is five or six innings.
Montero has taken 14 turns and failed to get to at least five innings just once — a 4.1-inning start against San Diego on Sept. 4. Oddly enough, it was the start before his complete game shutout.
He’s not dealing like staff ace Tarik Skubal, but what he does is just as important in Hinch’s view.
“His five or six innings every time out has been super important to maintain the rest and recovery for pitchers like (Jason) Foley, (Tyler) Holton and (Will) Vest and guys that we’re leaning on heavily.”
The 24-year-old made his Major League debut on May 29 in a spot start, where he went 4.1 innings. He’s been able to put together a quality season, as he is now 6-6 with a 4.60 ERA in 16 games (15 starts), with 66 strikeouts and 27 walks in 88 innings.
He was coming off a terrific 2023 in the minor leagues, as he went 15-4 with a 4.66 ERA in 27 games (26 starts) with three different Tigers affiliates, as he struck out 160 and waked 49 in 127.1 innings.
But, Hinch said that some degree he’s had to “learn on the fly” this season. But he’s laid the groundwork since he started his professional career in 2017 with the Tigers’ Dominican Summer League team.
“Our player development system raved about this guy from the get-go, and step by step along the way he's added a pitch, he's added a little bit of a of a tweak in his delivery, he's maintained his aggressiveness around the strike zone and he's unflappable when it comes to the competition,” Hinch said. “He's going to leave it out on the mound and I love the fact that he got rewarded with the player of the week award.”
