Rafael Montero returned to the mound last in the 7th inning for the Leones del Escogido to face three hitters. The first batter he faced was Abraham Almonte (Cleveland Indians) who ground out to second, then Eugenio Velez singled to left field, and the final batter Eduardo Nunez (Minnesota Twins) popped out to first base.
This was the second Dominican League appearance for Montero who pitched one inning on December 21st allowing a solo homerun and striking out two batters. He last pitched for the Mets on April 16th before having shoulder issues that knocked him out for a majority of the season. He suffered a setback on the recovery trail in his last appearance of the year on August 16th for the St. Lucie Mets but did pitch in the instructional league.
The day after getting the game-winning hit that sent the Leones del Caracas into a tie for a playoff spot, Asdrubal Cabrera was a part of a four-run 9th inning rally that is sending Caracas to the playoffs. The bad news is that the 9th inning single was his only hit of a 1 for 8 day. He is now 3 for 19 with two RBI, two walks, and nine strikeouts in five Venezuelan Winter League games.
Cabrera singled with one on and nobody out and came around to score to make the score 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th. Henry Rodriguez ended the crazy game with a two-run walkoff ground-rule double. The Caracas and the Cardenales de Lara combined to scored seven runs in the final inning of the 6-5 game.
Alejandro De Aza played in his fourth game for the Toros del Este having his best game at the plate going 2 for 4 with a run scored and a sacrifice bunt. He was in right field for the second straight game after being the designated hitter for the first two. He is now 3 for 14 with two walks and four strikeouts.
Lefty reliever Chase Huchingson pitched a scoreless inning for the Tigres del Licey but allowed one hit that brought in an inherited runner. He has pitched 2.2 innings in the playoffs allowing one earned run on four hits and has two strikeouts.
In the Puerto Rican League Johnny Monell went 1 for 4 with a RBI double and is now hitting .268/.388/.423 in 123 at bats for the Criollos de Caguas. T.J. Rivera went 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter dropping his slash line to .302/.375/.453 in 25 games for the Indios de Mayaguez.
I wonder what the future holds for Montero. A couple seasons ago he was our most exciting pitching prospect. Last season was a lost year for him and there seems to be no room in the rotation for him.
Maybe the Mets are thinking he can be useful out of the bullpen? I guess they are thinking that may allow him to stay healthy? I am hoping he can have a healthy and successful 2016.
I think if healthy he starts 2016 as a reliever in the Mets pen with the Mets rotation spot currently. Still think long-term he has more value as a starter but I’m not sure where he fits with Mets considering the five young studs they will have when Wheeler comes back.
Do you agree with people who say his stuff doesn’t play in the bullpen? I think if you can get hitters out as a SP you can get them out as a RP. You don’t have to throw 95+ to be a reliever.
My opinion, and only that. He doesn’t appear to have the build to be a successful reliever. Granted neither did Wagner. He generally doesn’t miss bats at a typical reliever level.
Neither did Wade Davis before they moved him to the pen. Not saying Montero is Wade Davis but sometimes starters take their stuff to another level when moving to the pen.
At this point we just need him to stay healthy lol.
I think his stuff will play in the bullpen just fine as long as he gets back to being aggressive against hitters like he was in AA/AAA.
Fair point. I do have doubts his body holds up to the rigors of BP usage. I also have concerns that moving him to the pen bottoms out his value.
We will see. I agree his value is maximized by having him as a starter but our current needs are in the BP right now.
Does he offer more than Goeddell right now?
I don’t want to see a repeat of last season where he was a yo-yo. I would prefer he start ST as a starter, keeping him stretched out. A healthy starter in April, even in Vegas with nothing to prove, will have value. Enough to land a proven late inning arm off needed.
I agree I don’t want to see him go back and forth.
If healthy I feel like he is the perfect guy to be working as a starter in AAA and if an injury occurs he is ready to come up and start. I could be wrong, but I dont see his value as a reliever. It seems like he has trouble putting some hitters away and he had trouble when bouncing from the pen to the rotation with the mets
I agree with your first line because he does not have great secondary pitches and has trouble putting good hitters away. Later in games guys are most effective in the pen when they can strike people out especially with men on base.
I agree I don’t want to see him yo-yo’ed around next season. Maybe the best thing for him is to be a starter in Vegas. Mets really do have plenty of bullpen options already and I think they will probably sign at least one option.
I think his biggest problem when he was in the Majors is that he didn’t trust his stuff, wasn’t aggressive enough. I think he certainly would have value in the bullpen but think he has more value as a starter like you said.