KANSAS CITY -- The Tigers had enough good news from their injured starting pitchers Friday fair to look forward to getting their makeshift rotation closer to normal in the coming weeks. But the more Keider Montero pitches, the more he makes his case to remain a part of it.
He couldn’t pitch the Tigers out of their funk; the Royals scored three runs in the final two innings, helped by a Wenceel Pérez eighth-inning error, to send the Tigers to their fourth straight loss, this one a 4-3 walk-off defeat that dropped them three games under .500 for the first time since April 11. But with six innings of one-run ball at Kauffman Stadium, Montero not only gave his team a chance, he gave a heavily worked bullpen a shorter night and a lead to try to protect.
In the process, Montero furthered his argument that he has graduated from a fill-in starter to one of manager A.J. Hinch’s five best options. That will be put to the test in the coming weeks.
For the moment, Montero and Jack Flaherty are the only set starters in Detroit’s rotation. Ty Madden fills a slot as a bulk reliever, and will pitch again Saturday following Burch Smith as an opener, followed by a true bullpen game on Sunday night. Framber Valdez is eligible to return from his suspension on Tuesday, while Monday’s off-day allows Flaherty and Montero to stay on regular rest against the Mets at Citi Field.
Longer term, the Tigers received encouraging injury updates Friday, from Casey Mize’s bullpen session to Tarik Skubal’s successful arthroscopic surgery Wednesday to Troy Melton’s dominant rehab start (three perfect innings, five strikeouts in just 27 pitches) for Single-A Lakeland Friday night. Justin Verlander can take a big step forward with a two-inning simulated game on Saturday. Of the injured starters, Mize should return the earliest, followed by Verlander. The Tigers aren’t discussing a timetable on Skubal until he begins throwing again, but his relatively simple surgery should allow him to be on the fast end of a typical two-to-three month recovery, if not beat it.
Even without Skubal, the Tigers could have six starters for five spots by the end of the month, when Melton’s rehab assignment is up. Montero, so often the odd man out over the last couple years, shows no signs of making a decision easy.
Montero wasn’t dominant on Friday, but he showed just as big of a development: He was effective and efficient on a night when he had less than his best stuff against a lineup that has given him trouble.
“They were clearly going to ambush him quite a bit and come out and be aggressive, really on all of his pitches,” Hinch said. “But I think his stuff got a little better as the outing went on. The changeups were in the dirt early. The breaking ball was a little bit better; he was trying to find that early. They tried to get on his fastball.”
His lone run allowed scored when Jac Caglianone crushed a backup curveball for a two-out double and scored on Isaac Collins’ opposite-field single off a changeup. Another Montero curveball early sent center fielder Matt Vierling into the fence to take away an extra-base hit from Vinnie Pasquantino to end the first inning.
“The first two innings, I noticed it,” Montero said. “And what I did was follow [catcher Dillon Dingler’s] orders and execute my pitches as well as I could in a way that they could get themselves out, have at-bats with not many pitches and go as deep in the game as possible.”
Montero, mixing not only pitches but locations, retired 11 consecutive Royals after Collins’ RBI single, including three consecutive strikeouts through the middle of the lineup. When Bobby Witt Jr. doubled to give the Royals another threat in the sixth, Montero stranded two by retiring Salvador Perez, his World Baseball Classic batterymate and fellow gold medal winner with Team Venezuela. He used the same curveball that was getting hit early, but dropped it below the zone. Perez popped it up.
“I thought he won the biggest inning, which was his last inning,” Hinch said, “keeping the game where it was with a tough lineup for him.”
Montero needed just 71 pitches to complete six innings. He has tossed six innings or more in four of his last six outings, but has yet to cross the 90-pitch mark. His ERA stands at 3.18, his WHIP at 0.96, barely behind Skubal. His strikeout rate has dropped as his efficiency has improved, but he has strikeout stuff.