Keider Montero is headed back to the rotation. AJ Hinch said Sunday that Montero will start the finale against the Cubs in Chicago on Wednesday, a move that gives the Tigers a temporary six-man rotation for one game.
The timing matters because Montero has been one of the Tigers’ most useful arms since he left the rotation and went to the bullpen. He pitched 3 1/3 innings in a win against the Angels on Friday night, stranded the tying and winning runs at third and second base, and extended a run of work in high-leverage spots that has made him hard to leave out of any plan.
Montero has already shown he can handle both jobs. He made 13 starts for the Tigers between April 5 and June 11, with five quality starts in that stretch, before shifting to relief after Troy Melton, Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty returned to the rotation. Hinch said the decision to start him Wednesday was about the way he was throwing and the moment the Tigers were in, not a judgment on anyone else in the bullpen.
“Given the way he was pitching, he had his rhythm, he was punching out everybody, I felt he earned it,” Hinch said. “It wasn’t a knock on anything that’s going on in the pen or the options we do have. It was about using his pitches at the right time and when he was feeling the way he was feeling, I thought it was the right call for us.”
That is the unusual part of Montero’s season. He was developed as a starter, but he has become a late-inning weapon out of the bullpen, and he has embraced that split role without changing his approach. Montero said, “Regardless of the situation, whether I’m starting or relieving, my mindset is always the same,” and added that his job is to enjoy the game, do his best, give 100% of himself and help the team win. He also said the switch is not much of a change for him.
That comfort has been building for years. Montero joined the Tigers system from Venezuela as a 16-year-old, and he said his coach when he was 10 or 11 years old used him in the infield and in tough pitching situations late in games. “Since I was a kid, I always played infield and pitched,” he said. “But he would always bring me in to pitch in the tough situations late in games, tight games, in the semifinals and finals.”
The bullpen version of Montero has already shown up in the biggest moments. Last fall, he earned his first big-league save in Game 1 of the ALDS, a reminder that the Tigers have trusted him when the pressure rises. He was not on the Opening Day roster, but he has worked his way into a role that has mattered more than the label attached to it.
What happens after Wednesday is still the open piece. For now, the Tigers are using Montero to fill a start in Chicago and stretch the rotation for one turn, then they can decide whether he stays there or slides back into the bullpen role he has turned into a weapon. His next appearance will tell the story more clearly than the title beside his name.
