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MILWAUKEE – Trying to play the long game, hoping to keep their starting pitchers rested and healthy, the Detroit Tigers will call up Keider Montero to start on Wednesday afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers, giving all the other pitchers an extra day of rest.
“The reason that we're inserting him in the rotation is just to give the entire rotation an extra day,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said on Tuesday.
Montero, a right-hander who made his MLB debut in late May and threw a complete-game shutout in late September, was already in the Tigers clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon because he is granted an acclimation day. But the Tigers won’t make a corresponding move until Wednesday.
More: Detroit Tigers' goal of deep playoff run is obvious through actions, words
“We wanted to Keider here, get his feet underneath him, have him play catch, and be ready for the 12-noon game tomorrow, which comes fast,” Hinch said.
The main reason to do this? The Tigers are in the midst of playing 23 games in 24 days. Until this point, they were able to give all their starting pitchers an extra day of rest, just because of how the off days have fallen.
Hinch stressed that no one is injured.
“It's all about the rotation and giving multiple guys a benefit from it,” Hinch said. “We've been able to go this entire way so far without any of our starters being on that traditional five-day start, and we have a chance to continue it with arguably a guy who could have been on our team from the get-go.”
Reese Olson, who was expected to pitch on Wednesday, will now pitch Thursday against Kansas City in Comerica Park.
Hinch has not ruled out using a six-man rotation.
“There's a scenario in which that could happen,” Hinch said. “We've told (Montero) to entirely focus on helping us win (Wednesday) and then we'll make decisions day by day. ... All options are on the table when it comes to stuff like that.”
At the start of spring training, Montero was fighting for a spot in the rotation with Casey Mize and Kenta Maeda.
Mize won the battle, Maeda was moved to the bullpen and the Tigers wanted Montero to remain a starting pitcher for a moment just like this.
In his last outing, Montero was outstanding, going 5⅔ innings against Iowa on April 10 for Triple-A Toledo. He didn’t give up a hit, didn’t walk anybody and struck out six.
“We've talked about being strategic with using our guys,” Hinch said. “Keider, arguably, could have broken with our team, and everything would have been perfectly fine, but when he lost out on the competition and went down and had had an incredible outing last time, we are going to be proactive in getting him in the mix, in the rotation, and the other five will bounce back a day.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: [email protected]. Follow him on X @seideljeff
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers call up Keider Montero to start on Wednesday vs Brewers
Continue reading...
“The reason that we're inserting him in the rotation is just to give the entire rotation an extra day,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said on Tuesday.
Montero, a right-hander who made his MLB debut in late May and threw a complete-game shutout in late September, was already in the Tigers clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon because he is granted an acclimation day. But the Tigers won’t make a corresponding move until Wednesday.
More: Detroit Tigers' goal of deep playoff run is obvious through actions, words
“We wanted to Keider here, get his feet underneath him, have him play catch, and be ready for the 12-noon game tomorrow, which comes fast,” Hinch said.
The main reason to do this? The Tigers are in the midst of playing 23 games in 24 days. Until this point, they were able to give all their starting pitchers an extra day of rest, just because of how the off days have fallen.
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Hinch stressed that no one is injured.
“It's all about the rotation and giving multiple guys a benefit from it,” Hinch said. “We've been able to go this entire way so far without any of our starters being on that traditional five-day start, and we have a chance to continue it with arguably a guy who could have been on our team from the get-go.”
Reese Olson, who was expected to pitch on Wednesday, will now pitch Thursday against Kansas City in Comerica Park.
Hinch has not ruled out using a six-man rotation.
“There's a scenario in which that could happen,” Hinch said. “We've told (Montero) to entirely focus on helping us win (Wednesday) and then we'll make decisions day by day. ... All options are on the table when it comes to stuff like that.”
At the start of spring training, Montero was fighting for a spot in the rotation with Casey Mize and Kenta Maeda.
Mize won the battle, Maeda was moved to the bullpen and the Tigers wanted Montero to remain a starting pitcher for a moment just like this.
In his last outing, Montero was outstanding, going 5⅔ innings against Iowa on April 10 for Triple-A Toledo. He didn’t give up a hit, didn’t walk anybody and struck out six.
“We've talked about being strategic with using our guys,” Hinch said. “Keider, arguably, could have broken with our team, and everything would have been perfectly fine, but when he lost out on the competition and went down and had had an incredible outing last time, we are going to be proactive in getting him in the mix, in the rotation, and the other five will bounce back a day.”
Contact Jeff Seidel: [email protected]. Follow him on X @seideljeff
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers call up Keider Montero to start on Wednesday vs Brewers
Continue reading...
