At age 26, some people just need to grow up. Others need to reinvent themselves. For Rafael Montero, he has so far reinvented himself this spring. Montero was once thought of as a prized prospect in the farm system of the New York Mets. He at one time was ranked as the fifth best prospect for the organization. When Montero reached the major leagues though, inconsistencies arrived. In 12 major league starts, Montero has a 1-5 record, paired with a 5.15 ERA. While other pitching prospects like Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, and Steven Matz rose to prosperity in the big leagues, Montero was left in the Las Vegas dust.
Montero realized that this may be his last spring to be able to prove he is valuable to the team. At age 26, Montero is no longer the bright-eyed prospect that the Mets signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2011. Montero is now often thought of as a forgotten man in the Mets pitching picture. His numbers this spring have so far are starting to change those thoughts. He has pitched solidly, pitching to a 1.77 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 20.1 innings. His performance has earned him at least a spot in the bullpen to start the 2017 campaign. Montero’s role may expand into that of a temporary starter with news of Matz coming down with elbow irritation. But, how has Montero improved himself to put himself back into the picture?
To start, Montero has thus far improved his pitch control. Last season in Triple-A Las Vegas, Montero allowed 40 walks in 80 innings pitched. It goes without saying that this is an atrocious statistic, one that would not cut it in the Major Leagues. So far this spring, Montero has showed that he still needs development in that category. In his 20.1 innings, he has allowed 8 walks. Although his other numbers have somewhat covered up his walk numbers, it is still something that needs to be addressed for him to be successful where it matters.
Montero also has persistently in his corner. At age 26, he may be primed to finally become an impact player in the league. Yes, he is not as young as Syndergaard or Conforto anymore. But that doesn’t mean it is too late to become something in the league. In fact, the Mets have a starter in their rotation who didn’t break out until age 26. deGrom broke out during the 2014 season at age 26 and went on to win the Rookie of the Year. Of course, deGrom is a different type of pitcher than Montero is. deGrom is just a good example of how you can find success at any age in the MLB.
It will be interesting to see how this season turns out for Montero. For him, it is most likely a make-or-break season in terms of results. If he is successful in the bullpen and even potentially in a temporary starter’s role, Montero may be reinserted into the picture of the Mets plans moving forward. If Montero fails to provide solid contributions to the team, though, this may be the last we see of him.
I am rooting for him. Seriously. It feels like he’s a mental hurdle away from making the leap to successful major leaguer. If Robles can do it . . .
At same time, I have this vision of the coach handing him the ball and saying, “Now remember, we’re not in Florida anymore. These games count.”
Gulp.
He tightens up.
He’s earned another shot. That’s impressive in and of itself.
Yikes. I see Mr Toads Wild Ride coming. Not only isnt it FL anymore, no one is wearing # 97 on their jersey. Those lifeless fastballs gonna fly a loooong way.
Agreed. 8 walks in 20 innings isn’t going to bode well in the majors. Especially coming in relief spots where runners may already be on.
While I wish Lugo made the team, I think it’s best to have him stretched out in AAA in case an emergency start is needed.
I predict Dfa in May when everyone gets healthy.
I would agree with you, except I would have done that last year and the year before, but it doesnt happen. He must have something on Alderson or TC is the only thing that makes sense.
There’s never enough pitching depth, as you have seen the team learn as of late. It could be worth keeping him along, if he goes in and does his work.
Maybe I’m rooting, but I do believe there’s a Pitcher in there, somewhere.
I have never seen a decently talented, relatively mature prospect add soooooo little in terms of tools at the onset of establishing an early career path. This guy is in exactly the same place as he has been for 3 years!!!!
The Mets may share my primary belief…and it may be hurting Montero. He may need the Harsh reality of a “verdict”…. it would open his ears and his mind to trying a better approach for his Pitching Style….. that might only happen somewhere else.
I don’t get this.
Do you really think the Mets are asking him (or have asked him in the past) to do something different and he’s refusing?
A guy who has experienced mostly failure in the big leagues doesn’t have the ability to disregard coaching. If Dan Warthen tells Jacob deGrom to start throwing a knuckleball, deGrom can laugh in his face. If he tells Montero to throw a knuckleball, you can bet your bottom dollar that he’s on a back field in Spring Training doing just that.
I can’t imagine that if Montero was actively ignoring what his manager and coaches were telling him to do that he would have received as many chances as he’s gotten.
Yes… I absolutely believe that he’s resistant to Coaching….. and I don’t believe that a “No!” Is is always very directly expressed by the player
I would suspect that he’s just no bought in, and they’re hanging in there because he’s still young enough and talented enough— they’re not really to throw him away
I appreciate you taking the time to respond.
What you describe in your first graph sounds like high school ball where coaches just can’t make a talented guy do what they want. But in pro ball? There are a bunch of talented guys and if Montero won’t listen, Paul Sewald or Josh Smoker or a host of other guys will.
Obviously, neither of us are around for the coaching sessions and we can’t know what goes on. But with millions of dollars on the line, it seems to me what you propose is happening is just extremely cavalier on the part of both Montero and the Mets. And I just can’t buy it.
I believe he can be a moderately effective relief pitcher for a period of time. Small sample size rules when it comes to relievers, so guys can “do well” for 2-3 months at a stretch, particularly if they are used in the right situations.
He has a pretty great change up.
The high K totals tell me he’s got something.
I think he’s a pitcher with a very narrow margin for error. He can’t make mistakes, the FB can’t leak into the middle of the plate, and he knows it: Which is why a pitcher with his good control walks so many batters.
I wouldn’t bet on his success, but it wouldn’t shock me if he’s mildly successful. Like Eraff said, my sense is there’s a pitcher in there somewhere.
Also, I don’t believe at all in Chris F’s concept of dumping guys at the first sign of trouble. Glad the Mets have him.
Oh, btw, I’d convert Mike Pelfrey to the bullpen and tell him to throw really hard.
Well that is not a true statement. I dont see *it* in Montero at all. What is missing is late life or absolute control or confidence. Since the day he was called up he looks weak in all respects. I feel the same about TdA. He is incapable of learning the game and delivering quality play at any level. There is a misconception he is some sort of unreal pitch framer; he’s not. I would have moved on, and possibly with Ramos once the Rays are done and we can trade. I felt the same about Pelfrey (you must have been joking, right? he stinks) and Parnell, both of whom were obvious junkers.
That is quite different than say with Conforto, who pretty much fell apart like good pulled pork BBQ last year. Lost in the weeds. I see him as an investment with real MLB potential. I felt the same with Lagares.
A lot of people didn’t see the “it” in Mike Piazza, but look how he turned out. Montero still has time to turn his career around, but it is completely up to him at this point.
Thats ridiculous. No one is like Piazza. And for the record look up his rookie year, Montero is not even in the same solar system as Piazza, who was a low draft – the exact opposite of Montero in terms of prospect. Montero is weak in every aspect of the word. Id be shocked if any team would trade him for a bag of batting practice balls…yes, hes that bad.
I don’t believe in dumping guys who have the kind of minor league track record that Montero established. It feels like a petulant move, rather than a considered assessment.
You might be right, but you gain — in this case — absolutely nothing. I don’t see the benefit. And potentially you lose a guy who can maybe get some big outs for you down the line. Even Eric Campbell had value.
On the d’Arnaud thing, you just willfully ignore that he produced the second-best OPS of all NL catchers in 2015. And was hurt last season. Again, sure, getting a better player should always be an option; but to fail to recognize what you’ve already got is poor management, IMO.
There’s an idea that the Mets have pitching depth and I don’t agree. With Lugo and Matz, they have excellent options at #6 and #7. But we know Matz is hurt already, Wheeler is on an innings count, Harvey is coming off a second surgery, and Lugo might be massive overrated right now. That leaves Montero at #8.
So my thinking was the Mets should probably pick up a hungry veteran for AAA. It’s a time-honored strategy. Pelfrey sucks? Okay, I get that. He kind of does. But the bullpen is an interesting last-ditch thought. And have you looked at the AAA starters this season? I’d grab another Dice-K from the scrapheap at the first opportunity.
And that’s the nature of scrapheaps. Everybody sucks. But it doesn’t mean they can’t be useful down the road. It just means . . . don’t count on it.
In addition, Mike Pelfrey came up with the organization. He’s one of our own and he’s down in the dumps. So you do the right thing and you give him a shot to salvage something. Jim Henderson, maybe. Or not!
So I believe in the fierce urgency of now at this time. Every roster spot matters. I get we disagree; I place little value on loyalty for people that dont live up to their end of the deal.
While you may value all that production in the minors, Im focusing on his majors production. He fell off a cliff. He’s been over matched in every way imaginable. He was demoted back to AA. In about 75 MLB innings, he owns a 5+ ERA and 1.6+ WHIP. In all regards he’s been a total flop. Given the success the Mets have had developing pitchers, its really amazing its only been Montero. Major league batters are 1-2 orders of magnitude better and that has exposed his lifeless fastball. We need depth at pitcher for sure. I’d take someone who has at least proved he can play at this level. As usual, there will be people available when we need to get to 8. Same with Pelfrey. You could not pay me to have him take a roster spot. He’s shown he can’t do it. Id rather dig up someone who has.
TdA rode to his high point in 2015, like you say, unfortunately those numbers represent 240 AB. So in my view of the game, that is anomalous relative to his other production. I also can no longer escape the reality that he is a real injury liability. In the past three years he has played in about 50% of the games, so the Mets are required to carry a second MLB starting C, which has not happened. At age 28, just how long do you run this experiment out? At 28 he needs to be coached like a prospect instead of leading Plawecki as his apprentice. Catchers like that are better on other teams, not ones where so many believe the Mets might be WS winners.