Keider Montero is gearing up for the biggest start in his young career as the Tigers are set to face the Cleveland Guards in Game 3 of the 2024 ALDS. This will be his second appearance against Cleveland this post-season, tossing a pair of innings in relief in Saturday’s Game 1 loss. For Montero, he is coming off a career high in innings pitched with 142.2 during the regular season.
When he can throw a mix of his four pitches, that is when he is most effective. As A.J. Hinch said during the Game 3 ALDS presser, Montero can sometimes be a two pitch pitcher, going heavy on his slider and fastball. Case in point, when he appeared against the White Sox in the final day of the regular season, Montero was slider heavy, which if you noticed on the graph, left a lot of them in the zone, resulting in three hits off the pitch.
The velocity was back up in Cleveland, hitting after his last several appearances in September where the velocity was down around 93. It went back to 94.6, hitting 96.2 MPH, and was using his fastball more, and his sinker less, and going back to the tried and true knuckle curve.
That pitch, along with his changeup, were among his effective when he threw his first shutout of his career against Cleveland back on July 8. Hinch is betting that version of Montero will be the one who shows up this afternoon.
Chris Brown