Detroit Tigers Must Find Significant Role for Emerging Starting Pitcher

It is remarkable how big of a difference a few months makes for the Detroit Tigers.

Last July, they were sellers at the trade deadline, looking to cash in on the value of any of their veterans on expiring contracts. One of the players on the move was starting pitcher Jack Flaherty.

Coupled with injuries to the rotation, it left the team dangerously thin in the starting pitching department beyond eventual Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

More often than not, manager A.J. Hinch deployed “pitching chaos” when his star wasn’t on the mound. It was a combination of openers and bulk pitchers working in tandem or complete bullpen games.

It was a necessary adjustment to the game plan, but one starter who did help immensely was Keider Montero.

He made his MLB debut at 23 years old on May 29 and did a solid job given the circumstances. A starter for a majority of his rookie campaign, he did make three relief appearances in which he threw at least 2.2 innings in all of them.

There were certainly some lows when he was on the mound, but he had several highs as well. 6.1 shutout innings against the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians on July 8 was a highlight.

As was the complete game shutout he fired against the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 10.

In nine of his appearances he gave up two or fewer earned runs. But he had six appearances in which he gave up at least five runs. The Tigers would like to see some more consistency out of their young hurler.

What his role will be in 2025 is currently up in the air, as the starting pitching weakness the Tigers had at the end of the 2024 campaign is less acute.

Flaherty was brought back in free agency and the team added veteran Alex Cobb as well. Reese Olson and Casey Mize are both healthy and performing well in spring training and top prospect Jackson Jobe is waiting in the wings, too.

The pitching staff is certainly crowded, but Montero is doing everything he can to show that he is deserving of a spot on the Opening Day roster in some capacity.

In his most recent spring outing against the Philadelphia Phillies, he was downright dominant.

As shared by Pitch Profiler on X, his slider, sinker and changeup were all clicking at a high level, registering proStuff+ scores of at least 120. Overall, he had a proStuff+ score of 106 with a whiff rate of 40.0% and didn’t have a single opponent barrel up a pitch.

Keider is 24 years old...

This kid is going to be a problem for teams for a long time to come! pic.twitter.com/wRomKd9nP0
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 1, 2025

Montero mowed down the competition, allowing only one walk in two shutout innings while striking out four.

Turning 25 in July, his future is incredibly bright. He is going to be in the mix for the fifth rotation spot in 2025 and should be a big part of the equation down the road along with Skubal and Jobe long-term.

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