Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris thinks Rafael Montero could be a diamond in the rough. But he'll have to earn it.
Detroit Tigers right-handed reliever Rafael Montero registered a 2.37 ERA in 71 games, competed in four of six games for the Houston Astros in the World Series and signed a big contract after helping the Astros win the championship.
All of that happened in 2022.
Everything has been downhill since then.
"We see him as a bullpen arm who could pitch in a variety of roles," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Friday, Aug. 1, two days after acquiring Montero. "He's going to have to pitch well to earn his innings. If he deserves more innings and more opportunity, then as you know, I'm willing to use anybody in any spot."
The Tigers traded for Montero — a 34-year-old who is an impending free agent — from the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, July 30, less than 24 hours before the trade deadline. To add him, the Tigers traded away Double-A Erie infielder Jim Jarvis.
Montero is a struggling veteran.
But he has upside.
"My mindset is to help this team win," Montero said in Spanish, interpreted by team employee Carlos Guillén. "I've always said that no matter what kind of role they put me in, I'm ready to do whatever A.J. wants me to do."
The trade from the Braves to the Tigers happened the eve of the trade deadline, just as Montero opened the door to his hotel room in Cincinnati after traveling with the Braves for a series against the Reds.
He didn't even get to unpack his bags.
"We made all the arrangements," Montero said. "It was complicated travel to get here, and it was a long night for me to get here, but the most important thing is that we're here and ready."
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In 2025, Montero has a 5.40 ERA with 23 walks and 39 strikeouts across 38⅓ innings in 39 games. He struggles against left-handed hitters, so expect the Tigers to use him more often against pockets of right-handed hitters.
Montero ranks in the second percentile with a 13.9% walk rate, the 59th percentile with a 23.5% strikeout rate and the 76th percentile with a 28.9% whiff rate.
His fastball averages 95.2 mph, and his splitter gets strikeouts.
"A couple of things really stuck out to us with him," Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Thursday, July 31. "It's an upper-90s fastball with a really steep angle that keeps hitters uncomfortable. He also added a new splitter this year that dropped an additional five inches of depth."
And then, Harris looked under the hood at more information.
Harris thinks he found a diamond in the rough.
"The thing that isn't as obvious to casual observers is he does a really good job of staying out of the middle of the zone," Harris said. "He does a really good job of pitching on the edges against right-handed and left-handed hitters, which makes him really, really difficult to square up."
Montero misses bats better than most relievers in the Tigers' bullpen, which ranks 29th in MLB in whiff rate, but he hasn't been able to find the strike zone.
He knows he needs to cut down on the walks.
"My goal is to lower the number of walks that I've had," Montero said. "I'm looking forward to doing that. We're going to make the adjustments over here to start doing it."
From 2023-25, Montero ranks 163rd out of 175 qualified relievers with a 5.06 ERA — ahead of these 12 relievers: Joey Wentz, Tyler Alexander, Mason Englert, Jalen Beeks, José Ruiz, Trevor Richards, Carlos Hernández, Joe Mantiply, Nate Pearson, Scott McGough, John Brebbia and Tyler Kinley.
The Tigers have already dumped Wentz, Alexander, Englert, Hernández and Brebbia.
But could the Montero project become their success story?
"There are some things that we think we can tweak a little bit to help him get back to some of the things that he was doing with the Astros when he was at his best," Harris said. "You take the underlying attributes, you take the postseason experience, and you take the split, and it's a pretty interesting package that we feel like can help us in the second half."
Montero hasn't been called on by Hinch at any point during his first four games with the Tigers, including three close games against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
He will pitch soon.
"That's one thing that's starting to happen with our bullpen," Hinch said. "We have a lot of options. He is going to factor in as well as he pitches."
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Rafael Montero needs to earn opportunities after trade
Category: Baseball
