Rafael Montero dazzled once again Sunday when he faced off against the Fresno Grizzlies. In 6.1 innings of work, Montero gave up two earned runs, two hits, and two walks while striking out four. He also carried a no hitter late into the game until it was broken up by an Adam Duvall home run. Montero was able to stay out of trouble for the entirety of the game despite giving up one in the 6th and 7th innings and overall, he threw 87 pitches, 57 of which were for strikes. The ability to pound the strike zone has become a mainstay in his arsenal and a consistent threat to opposing players.

I can see Rafael Montero becoming an impact player in the majors at some point this season or next season. Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and now Noah Syndergaard have overshadowed his consistency in the minors for most of his career, which started in 2011 when he was signed as an international free agent. The 23-year-old, has moved quickly through each level of the minors, and has a 2.50 career ERA along with a WHIP that hovers around one.

The performance of Montero has led Mets fans to demand that he be promoted to join the Mets struggling bullpen. I am here to disagree with that common notion around Mets fans, and ultimately, with the entire Tony LaRussa philosophy that believes that starting pitchers should start in the bullpen.

The success story last year was with Cardinals pitching prospect Michael Wacha, who started in the bullpen and eventually became an success story in the playoffs.

However, I know the history of the Mets misuse of pitchers that includes Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, and many overused bullpen arms. Everytime I think of the bullpen to starter transition and vice versa, I think of Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, and how miserable both of those players’ careers ended up based on their projections and their ceilings.

I don’t support the idea of putting starting pitching prospects in the pen and then stretching them out later on. I understand the idea behind it: expose the prospect to small doses of major league hitters to get used to the change of setting and the multitude of skilled hitters. Once they show consistency and confidence in the bullpen, then they stretch their arms back out to make a run at being a starting pitcher.

The pitching arm is one of if not the most fragile parts of the body in any sport across the league. With Tommy John surgery more prevalent then ever before, teams must be extremely careful if they don’t want to lose their pitchers to 12 months of rehab, in the hopes that they come back to be the same pitcher they were before.

I don’t denounce the importance of bullpen arms either, as we have seen early on in the Mets season that they could be the difference in winning and losing. However, I don’t buy into this bullpen being as bad as it has been. I am not saying it’s good, but I don’t think it will continue to perform as poorly as it has.

The injury to Bobby Parnell is tough to deal with and Jose Valverde has been thrown into a tough position late in his career.  However, starting pitchers are worthy of remaining starting pitchers.

From an economic point of view, it makes sense to keep prospects as starters because they are extremely more valuable on the trade market if the team is exploring options (which the Mets have and will continue to do). This was exemplified when Mejia and Familia were pushed into the bullpen. This, coupled with the medical point of view is enough for me to believe that top starting pitching prospects who have had success as starters, should remain as starters.

Of course there are certain situations in which this may not be the case, but I believe that Montero should remain a starter in the Mets position. His talent is special, and it is rare to have a young pitcher who has the ability to pound the strike zone so consistently like Montero has. Hey, he might even end up being a better big league pitcher than Noah Syndergaard, but the future will tell us that.

(Photo Credit: Brad Barr and John Munson/The Star-Ledger)