Two days after pitching a scoreless inning for the Leones del Escogido, Rafael Montero was back on the mound last night pitching 1.1 innings. He came in to pitch in the sixth innings with runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. He walked former Met Anderson Hernandez before getting Logan Moore (Phillies) to strikeout looking to end the threat.
Montero came out to pitch the seventh inning and while it didn’t go smoothly he came out unscathed. He allowed two hits and a walk in the inning but got a pop out, lineout, and caught stealing to finish his 1.1 scoreless innings. He has now made four appearances in the Dominican League going 4.1 innings allowing one run with three strikeouts.
The Leones (4-6) lost to the Tigres del Licey (9-1) by a score of 8-7 with Mets minor league pitcher Chase Huchingson picking up the victory. He pitched 0.2 innings allowing a solo homerun and now has a 3.38 ERA in playoff action. Former Met Jeremy Hefner made the start for Leones and had his roughest outing on the TJS comeback trail going only 2.1 innings while allowing five runs.
Johnny Monell was the only Mets position player to play last night, he was 1 for 3 with a walk for the Criollos de Caguas (2-2) in their 4-1 loss. He is now hitting .364 during the Puerto Rican League playoffs which are currently in the 18-game round robin phase. Former Met pitcher Dicky Gonzalez pitched six solid innings to beat the Criollos.
Alejandro De Aza was out of the lineup for the second straight night for the Toros del Este with no reason currently given. The Tigres de Aragua (Wuilmer Becerra) play tonight with their season on the line as they trail 3-2 in a best-of-7 playoff series.
Hey Michael,
Montero could very well be the reason why the Mets feel confident sticking to their game plan of no signing a guy like Bastardo or Clippard to a 3 year deal. If he is healthy, I think he can be another very strong BP arm. Based upon what we’ve seen in the past, his velo takes a nice jump up when pitching in relief. Any word on what his velo has been?