Keider

Montero

Montero punched out five batters on the afternoon while issuing two free passes. Most of the damage done against him came via the long ball, with Nathaniel Lowe launching a solo shot in the second inning and JJ Bleday adding another in the fourth. Montero generated 10 swings and misses on 86 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of 29 percent. He now sits at 1-2 on the season with a 4.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and a 23/5 K/BB ratio over 27 innings in his first five starts. He’ll do battle against the Rangers his next time out at home on Saturday.

All of the runs came in the second, which got started when Garrett Mitchell’s groundout was overturned into a single. A walk and three more singles, one of which was a bunt, followed. Montero caught a break on the last one, as David Hamilton was thrown out at home after Brice Turang found himself caught in a rundown between first and second. Montero allowed just one other hit and no walks outside of the second inning. His spring velocity boost failed to stick around, but he has a 3.68 ERA and an 18/3 K/BB over 22 innings in four starts. He’ll face the Reds on Sunday.

The 25-year-old right-hander struck out five batters on the day and did not allow a base on balls. He had allowed just two runs through the first six innings, but he returned for the seventh and allowed a single and an RBI double to open the seventh before turning the ball over to the bullpen. That ballooned into a six-run inning for the Royals and cost Montero his shot at a victory. He got eight swings and misses on 83 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll bring an impressive 3.31 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and a 15/2 K/BB ratio (16 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Brewers at Comerica Park.

Montero was phenomenal here. He pounded the zone with his four-seam fastball and sinker against a very left-handed heavy Marlins’ lineup and they couldn’t square him up. His changeup was especially effective. While he was less consistent with it command-wise, the few he spotted fluttered off the plate and forced some ugly swings. He’s also holding slightly more velocity through his starts compared to last season and has a 1.74 ERA through two starts on the young season. He’ll look to stay hot in his next scheduled start against the Royals.

Montero had pitched just once since the regular season started, throwing four scoreless innings for Triple-A Toledo last Sunday. That’s how he started off tonight, too, but the Tigers pressed their luck in the fifth and Montero gave up a single, a walk and an RBI single before he was pulled with one out. Enmanuel De Jesus took over then and, after botching a sac bunt, gave up a two-run knock to finish off a four-run inning for the Cardinals. Montero allowed one hit, walked none and struck out three through four. He should stay in the rotation for now and face the Marlins next weekend.

Montero rejoins Detroit’s rotation mix with veteran Justin Verlander hitting the injured list with hip inflammation. The 25-year-old was jettisoned to the minors at the end of spring training after tossing 189 innings over the last two seasons for the Tigers. He’ll presumably take the ball on Sunday against the Cardinals in place of Verlander. He lacks the strikeout upside to be anything more than a streaming option in deeper mixed leagues and AL-only formats.

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.