Keider

Montero

That would line up Aaron Nola to pitch in the finals against the winner of the United States and the Dominican Republic should Italy’s magical run continue. Lorenzen was exceptional his last time out against Team USA, hurling 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. He’ll be opposed by Keider Montero for Venezuela.

Montero, who tossed three scoreless innings against the Panama on Wednesday, has proven an invaluable stopgap option for Detroit’s rotation, piling up 189 innings over the last two seasons and recording a respectable 4.57 ERA — 5.06 xERA — during that span. His demotion always seemed inevitable after the Tigers brought in Framber Valdez and reunited with Justin Verlander in the offseason, and while the timing seems weird, he’s just one of a number of players getting demoted in advance of leaving to join WBC teams.

He topped out at 98.5 miles per hour on the gun and had three swings-and-misses, but struck out just one. Montero is no lock to start for the Tigers and could figure in to the long relief plan if he doesn’t make the initial rotation. There wasn’t much to get excited about here today despite the increased velocity.

Montero’s velocity today was up 2-2.5 mph from last year, which seems notable. The 25-year-old has been a reasonable fifth starter when the Tigers have called on him the last two years, but he’s right around eighth on the rotation depth chart at this point, meaning he’ll probably be a middle reliever if he makes the team this spring. It seems more likely that he’ll open up in Triple-A.

After getting a pair of scoreless frames from Will Vest in the ninth and 10th, the Tigers turned to Montero to close it out — despite the 25-year-old hurler having never logged a save in his career. He showed no fear, getting Randy Arozarena on a bouncer to third and Cal Raleigh on a pop out to third base to start the inning. He then allowed a two-out single to Julio Rodríguez before retiring Josh Naylor on strikes to deliver the Tigers on a ground out to first base to end it — stealing Game 1 from the Mariners in Seattle.

The 24-year-old right-hander was terrific for the Tigers during the regular season, registering a 2.76 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and a 36/15 K/BB ratio over 45 2/3 innings in 16 appearances (four starts). He was bombed for four runs on three hits and a walk in just 1/3 of an inning in Game 2 of their Wild Card Series matchup against the Guardians. Melton has been pitching primarily out of the bullpen and shouldn’t be expected to work more than a few innings on Saturday. Keider Montero could be an option to log bulk innings behind him or the Tigers could make it a full bullpen game before Tarik Skubal takes the ball in Game 2 on Sunday.

The 25-year-old hurler racked up seven strikeouts on the day and didn’t walk a batter. The only blemish on his afternoon came on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Nick Sogard in the second inning. Montero got seven whiffs on 76 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of 32 percent. He wraps up the 2025 season with a 4.37 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and a 72/31 K/BB ratio across 90 2/3 innings in 20 appearances (12 starts) with the Tigers.

Montero served up only two hits in the abbreviated outing, but both wound up leaving the yard courtesy of Drake Baldwin and Nacho Alvarez Jr. He struggled to throw strikes in this one, handing out four free passes and finishing with only two strikeouts. He’s likely to make another start next week before the regular season wraps up, but that hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.

José Urquidy, Tommy Kahnle and Will Vest finished the shutout. Montero pitched in relief in his last three appearances, including having thrown 1 2/3 innings just three days ago, so it was pretty surprising that he got through five today. Of course, the matchup helped. With Sawyer-Gipson Long out of the mix, Montero could start again or serve as a bulk guy versus the Braves next weekend. He might be a streaming option then.

The expectation is that Jose Urquidy will then follow him in a bulk relief role. Montero has underwhelmed in his time with the Tigers this season, posting a 4.60 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and a 58/27 K/BB ratio over 78 1/3 innings of work.