Tigers Bullpen Trade Deadline Acquisition Suffers Rough Debut with Team

The Detroit Tigers had a trade deadline which many were not thrilled with in terms of a lack of aggressiveness in pursuit of the top names available.

Though adds were made to a bullpen in desperate need of reinforcements, outside of Kyle Finnegan it's a legitimate question how many if any are going to be able to make an actual impact.

With the second-most prominent addition making his Tigers debut on Tuesday night in former Houston Astros World Series champion Rafael Montero, hopes were high that he would be able to have a nice showing.

More News: Tigers Top Prospect John Peck Claims Midwest League Player of Week Award

Instead, he allowed two hits and two earned runs with a walk in his one inning of work while throwing 22 pitches, 10 of which were balls in the loss to the Minnesota Twins. Having previously displayed command issues, it does not seem like they have suddenly gone away.

Montero Has Posted Ugly Numbers Over the Last Several Years

At the time of the trade, the 34-year-old had made 39 appearances this year, mostly with the Atlanta Braves. In 36 games for Atlanta, Montero had a 5.50 ERA with 21 walks in 34.1 innings.

This was not new either. During the 2023 and 2024 seasons with Houston, he made a total of 109 appearances and had an ERA of 4.94, WHIP of 1.486, and a strikeout to walk ratio that continuously dropped from his very impressive 2022 campaign.

More News: Tarik Skubal Gives Thoughts On Tigers' Trade Deadline Approach

That year, which now seems like a lifetime ago, Montero had a 2.37 ERA in 71 appearances with 73 strikeouts and just 23 walks in 68.1 innings, accounting for a bWAR of 1.2 as a reliever.

Most importantly, he was dominant in the biggest moments, helping the Astros win the World Series by giving up just two hits and one run over four total appearances in the Fall Classic.

For Detroit, the ugly reality is that Montero has not looked like that version of himself for a long time now, and a change of scenery on a buy-low deal does not seem to have changed his outlook yet.

More News: Former Tigers Reliever Set To Join New York Yankees

Montero was a depth add and nothing more than a lottery ticket when the Tigers sent over Double-A infielder Jim Jarvis in exchange for him, but the early returns are certainly not promising on him being able to contribute to this team.

If he wants to stick around and try to help another deep playoff run, Montero is going to have to show more than he did in his debut.

For more Tigers news, head over to Tigers On SI.