Keider Montero continues his growth in Erie.

The Detroit Tigers have achieved notable success in signing international free agents as relievers, with names like Fernando Rodney, Francisco Cordero, and Gregory Soto often springing to mind. However, when it comes to starting pitchers who were signed and developed within the Tigers’ system, Alfredo Figaro stands out. Although Figaro initially signed with the Dodgers before joining Detroit as a free agent, he honed his skills by making over 60 starts in the Tigers’ minor league system. He made four starts during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, showcasing his potential as a starter at the big league level.

In the world of Detroit Tigers international starting pitching, there have been a few players who donned the Tigers uniform for a mere seven starts before moving on to other teams. One such player was Jair Jurrjens, who made seven starts for the Tigers before being traded to Atlanta, alongside Gorkys Hernández, in exchange for one season of Edgar Renteria. Victor Santos, a pitcher who also worked his way up the Tigers system, experienced a similar fate. He made just seven starts for the team in 2001 before being traded to Colorado for José Paniagua. However, there is an international free agent signing who surpassed the seven-start mark with the Old English D. Right-hander Felipe Lira, signed by Detroit in 1990, spent a noteworthy four seasons with the team from 1995 to 1999, enduring one of the most challenging stretches for Tigers pitching.

Which takes us to the Tigers Double-A affiliate. Erie SeaWolves right-hander Keider Montero has quietly been putting together a good season under his belt. Montero, originally signed out of Venezuela back in August 2016 for just $40,000, was one of the last pitchers to pitch for the Low-A Connecticut Tigers. Over the last two seasons, he has been in the Whitecaps rotation, but didn’t really appear on anyone’s radar until August 2022. Opponents hit just .183 against him over his last seven starts of the season, and allowed just six earned runs over those final 35 innings of work.

Inside the numbers: Montero’s strikeouts

Trevor Hooth observed that Montero’s curveball had a high spin rate of 3,000 last season, which complemented his two-seamer, cutter, and changeup effectively. This season, it seems that he has improved his command. In his most recent four starts, he has recorded 30 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched, including a personal best of 11 strikeouts against Hartford on June 20. Throughout the season, in 64.1 innings pitched, he has accumulated 84 strikeouts, leading all starters in the Tigers system. Additionally, he boasts the best strikeouts per nine innings in the system at 11.75.

I recently spoke with Keider about the recent changes in his game as he continues to grow as a pitcher. (Special thanks to Carlos Guillén of the Detroit Tigers’ public relations department, who assisted me in asking the questions.) Since there are various Spanish dialects, I wanted to make sure I asked the questions in the appropriate native tongue. Below, you will find the questions in English and Spanish, followed by his responses.

Q&A

Rogelio: It seems like you can go deeper into games this season. What steps did you take in the off-season to make that happen?

Parece que puedes llegar más lejos en los juegos esta temporada. ¿Qué pasos tomaste en la temporada baja para que eso sucediera?

Montero: Yes, I believe in myself and I feel good enough to pitch more innings in each outing, and I trained a lot throughout my off-season for this to be ready for this year.

Si creo en mi y me siento bien para lanzar más innings en cada salida, y entrene bastante en toda mi off season para esto para estar listo para este año

Rogelio: How has been the transition to Double-A so far? Your strikeouts are up and seem like your command of your off-speed pitches is getting better per start.

¿Cómo ha sido la transición a Doble-A hasta ahora? Sus ponches han aumentado y parece que su dominio de su cambio de velocidad está mejorando por salida.

Montero: I really wanted to be at this level for a long time because I am closer to the goal, which is in the big leagues, and one of the goals this year was to increase my strikeouts more and thankfully, the result is coming out well and about the change; I did change the grip and I feel very good mastering the new grip, and it is bringing me very good results.

De verdad que muy bien ya quería estar en este nivel desde hace tiempo porque estoy más cerca de la meta que es grande ligas, y si una de las metas de este año era esa en aumentar más mis ponches y gracias a dios el resultado está saliendo bien, y sobre el cambio si cambié el agarre y me siento muy bien dominando el nuevo agarre y me esta trayendo muy buenos resultados.

Rogelio: Would you like to stay as a starting pitcher if you get the call-up to the majors?

¿Te gustaría quedarte como lanzador abridor si recibes la llamada a las mayores?

Montero: Yes, I would like to be a starter in the big leagues, but in reality I feel ready and prepared to pitch wherever they need me. I believe in myself and I believe that I can do the same job coming from the bullpen or as a starter; I am ready for any occasion.

Si me gustaría ser abridor en grandes ligas pero en realidad me siento listo y preparado para pichar de donde ellos me necesiten creo en mi y creo que puedo hacer el mismo trabajo viniendo del bullpem o como abridor estoy listo para cualquier ocasión

Rogelio: What do like to do in your free time and who are some of your friends on the team?

¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre y quiénes son algunos de tus amigos en el equipo?

Montero: In my free time I really like to sleep, rest, talk with my family, and I think all of my teammates are my friends because I get along with them all but the ones I spend the most with are Wenceel Pérez and Wilmer Flores.

En mi tiempos libres me gusta mucho dormir descansar, hablar con mi familia, y mis amigos en el equipo creo que todos, porque me llevo bien con todos mis compañeros pero con los que más me la paso es con Wenceel Pérez y Wilmer Flores. 

You can see Montero and the rest of the Erie SeaWolves starting on Friday, July 14 when they kick off the second half of the season at home against Hartford.

Photo Credit: Jason Dougherty Erie SeaWolves.