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MMN Mid-Season Top 25 Prospects: No. 2 Rafael Montero

By Former Writers

July 25, 2013 No comments

mmn top 25

Welcome to the next installment of MMN’s Mid-Season Top 25 Prospects! We’re in the final stretch now…

Rafael-Montero-by-Gordon-Donovan

2. Rafael Montero, RHP

Height: 6’0″

Weight: 170

Age: 22

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Fastball: 60/60+ Slider: 50/55 Changeup: 40/50 Control: 65/65 Makeup: 45/45

Rafael Quezada Montero is one of those guys that you just want to see succeed. Montero’s arsenal is a tick behind that of Wheeler or Harvey and he’s got a body that doesn’t lend itself to a long career of pitching. He’s an underdog — but rest assured, he is the cream of the crop when it comes to underdogs. Pitchers with Montero’s build and stuff shouldn’t be as successful as he is — but we’ve seen weirder things in baseball, haven’t we? Montero is blessed with a great work ethic and an impressive ability to keep his composure on the mound. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Montero smile on the mound, so he’s got this business-like demeanor when he’s pitching.

Now, to his credit, Montero rocks three pitches that I would consider at least major league average — or have the potential to become so. The fastball is already above-average and touches 95 on occasion, sitting around 92 more often than not, with good movement. The slider is sometimes inconsistent, as it was fashioned from a curveball, but it flashes the potential to be a usable pitch in the majors. The change-up is really inconsistent, but can serve as a defining change-of-pace pitch for him in the future, so it’s necessary that he puts the work in to try and improve that.

I think his promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas has stunted his development, and I’ve said this on more than one occasion. A fly-ball/contact pitcher does not do well in the confines of the dry air of Las Vegas or the hitter-friendly PCL overall. In addition, he’s working to try and be too fine and actually walking batters now — hurting his cause — while Triple-A hitters are less likely to chase his slider at the same time. This doesn’t worry me too much, as I can already see him making adjustments and pitching more effectively, and the Mets weren’t going to call him up this September anyway because he’s not even on the 40-man yet.

Next year, however, we might see the coming of the third piece in our future rotation. Montero might be the one who’s most likely to be traded if the Mets decide to go that route, but I’ve grown attached to watching him pitch — as I do with all of our prospects — so I just hope he turns into a star in a Mets uniform.

MMN Mid-Season Top 25 Prospects Series

The traditional scouting scale, which ranks players on a scale of 20-80 (abbreviated at times without the zero), can summarize how we feel about a player in an easy to understand format. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with the scale, you’ll see two numbers — something like 30/60, which isn’t a fraction, but rather a representation of their present status and their potential. The number on the left represents their current standing, while the number on the right shows what they could become. For a further explanation on what the numbers mean, I strongly encourage you to check out these links (Scouting for Batters and Scouting for Pitchers) which I will leave on each post going ahead in this series. With that being said, I really hope you enjoy our work going ahead, and any and all questions and comments are appreciated.

Previous Posts

No. 3: Travis d’Arnaud

No. 4: Wilmer Flores

No. 5: Cesar Puello

No. 6: Dominic Smith

No. 7: Brandon Nimmo

No. 8: Michael Fulmer

No. 9: Gavin Cecchini

No. 10: Jack Leathersich

Nos. 11 – 15: Kevin Plawecki to Domingo Tapia

Nos. 16 – 20: Steven Matz to Hansel Robles

Nos. 21 – 25: Aderlin Rodriguez to Ivan Wilson

(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)