CHICAGO – Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch came to the mound, in Wrigley Field, clapped his hands and took the ball from Keider Montero after a tremendous performance.
Hinch’s body language at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, July 22, screamed: Great job, young man!
From starter to reliever and back to starter again – Montero has done it all for the surging Tigers this season.
Hinch smiled in appreciation and tapped Montero on the chest with the ball out of respect.
Then, Montero walked toward the dugout and gestured with both arms toward the heavens – thankful for this day, thankful for this performance, just downright thankful.
As are the Tigers.
“I think he could have kept going forever,” Hinch said after the Tigers earned a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs to lock up their fourth straight road-series victory. “It felt like he’s just that competitive and that composed. As we see him grow up in the big leagues, we’re watching him mature and understand what it takes at this level, and our entire team is rewarded for it.”
Now, it’s time to put this into perspective.
Listen, shortstop Kevin McGonigle has been great. He’s having a sensational – close to historic – rookie season.
Catcher Dillon Dingler has been tremendous. At different points, Dingler has carried this team. He is hitting .409 with two doubles, three homers and five RBI in six games since the All-Star break.
They both made the American League All-Star roster, so obviously, they’ve been rewarded and acknowledged.
But the most underrated hero of the Tigers? Someone playing a critical role in the Tigers’ resurgence, for this team that has won 13 of its past 18 games?
None other than Montero, a guy who wasn’t even on the Opening Day roster.
Montero keeps stacking wins
Think about what Montero did just over the six days of this two-city road trip.
It was a bookend of brilliance, as Montero earned two wins from completely different ends of the spectrum.
On July 17 in Anaheim, California, Montero came out of the bullpen and threw 3⅓ scoreless innings in a high-stress, high-pressure, one-run victory over the Los Angeles Angels, allowing just one hit and striking out five, while earning his sixth win of the season.
Then, he moved to the rotation and finished this road trip with a 5⅓-inning masterpiece against the Cubs, allowing just one run and striking out eight. He earned that win, too – his seventh of the season, which just happens to be the most of any Tiger.
“He’s an animal out there,” said Spencer Torkelson, who also had a tremendous road trip in hitting three homers in six games. “He attacks the zone, gets ahead, puts guys away. I mean, he’s the real deal. I love playing behind him.”
Montero never gets rattled
Montero’s talent and unique abilities have allowed Hinch to use him in creative ways.
Montero is not just a reliever. He’s not just a starter. He’s anything Hinch needs him to be – a dynamic all-around pitcher who doesn’t seem bothered by pressure or adversity.
“He doesn’t get rattled at all in any situation – reliever, closing, starting,” said veteran closer Kenley Jansen, who knows something about having a calm heartbeat in pressure moments. “He just goes out and does his job. He’s a great teammate, great guy, and you know he’s learning.”
Now, consider Montero’s overall season.
How unusual is this? To do what Montero is doing? To be used as both a starter and reliever in this kind of mix and ratio?
Montero is only the third Tiger in the past 60 years to make at least 16 starts and six relief appearances before August, joining Anibal Sanchez in 2016 (16 starts, eight relief outings) and Dan Petry in 1990 (19 and six).
There’s also this nugget: Who is the only Tiger in the past 35 years to finish a season leading the team in wins while making six or more relief appearances? It was Alex Lange, who tied for the team lead with seven wins in 2022. But that was different. Lange had 71 relief outings and no starts for a team that mustered just 66 wins while sending 17 different pitchers to the mound to open a game.
But Montero is on pace for that. Which tells you how unique he truly is.
“His versatility is one thing,” Hinch said. “Everybody can see it on the field. He’s pitched in a lot of different innings, maybe in every inning of the game so far it feels like. But more importantly, it’s his buy-in to just do his best and give everything he has in the role that he’s being given. He hasn’t asked a lot of questions. He hasn’t complained at all. He’s accepted whatever his responsibility is that day.”
Montero’s ability to take any role is invaluable to this team. He has produced 3.0 bWAR (per Baseball Reference), which is the highest of any Tigers pitcher. After his tremendous performance against the Angels, Hinch decided to return him to the rotation because the Tigers had so many days without a break – 13 consecutive games after the All-Star break.
The idea was to go to a six-man rotation to give everybody a rest. Montero provided that ability. But after Jack Flaherty got hurt, it became even more imperative to keep Montero as a starter. To have him stretched out. He is now needed for a five-man rotation.
That kind of versatility, not to mention adaptability, has given the Tigers incredible flexibility.
Montero just keeps chugging away, stacking wins, impacting series – being an “animal” out there, as Torkelson said.
He has turned into the solution to a lot of different problems.
And, most importantly, a guy who just keeps playing a huge role in win after win.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Let’s fully appreciate what Keider Montero is doing for surging Tigers
Reporting by Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
