Rafael Montero made his first start of the 2015 season on Tuesday night against the Miami Marlins and provided a solid outing for the New York Mets, but it appears as if the club will stick with a veteran starter despite previous rumors.
Montero surrendered three earned runs on five hits and one walk while striking out six over 5 2/3 innings, but the Mets faltered in the bottom of the eighth and lost to their division rivals 4-3. The right-hander actually gave up only one hit and one walk through five innings before unraveling in the sixth inning. He was sent back down to Triple-A Las Vegas following the loss after being recalled before the contest.
"Early in the game he had a little too many 3-2 counts, but [he] made the pitches when he needed to make them," manager Terry Collins told Mike Puma of the New York Post. "But I thought he threw the ball very well tonight."
Montero was called up to help give fellow starters Matt Harvey and Bartolo Colon a rest while the team went with a six-man rotation for the time being. It was previously believed the 24-year-old could remain in the rotation and take the spot of Dillon Gee, who is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.184 WHIP in his first four starts. However, after two poor outings to start the season, Gee has rebounded to throw 14 2/3 innings while giving up just three earned runs on 14 hits and one walk in his past two starts.
"Dillon Gee is going to be fine," Collins also told Puma. "Unless something drastically happens, he is going to be fine."
Tuesday marked Montero's fifth MLB appearance with the Mets this season after coming on four times in relief with much less success. He accumulated an 0-1 record with a 4.15 ERA and 1.85 WHIP in those relief outings, but that wasn't the only reason he may have been sent back down to the minors.
"According to a scouting report, Montero's velocity - which was consistently in the 93-95 mph range at the start of the season - has recently dropped to 87-91 as he experiments with a different delivery. The Mets want Montero throwing more offspeed pitches in his return to the major leagues after relying on his fastball almost exclusively at times," writes Puma.
New York is clearly in no rush with their prospect pitchers, considering the club ranks fourth in the MLB in starting rotation ERA (3.23) and sit atop the league with a 15-6 record. Collins did not rule out a return for Montero, but it's possible the team wants to give fellow prospect starters Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz a shot at the major league level, especially since the six-man rotation idea could be further instituted over the next month because New York has only three days off from now until June 7.
"The Mets will go back to five again but intend to use a sixth starter periodically from that point forward to give Harvey extra rest on occasion," writes David Lennon of Newsday. "The Mets also could get looks at Matz and Syndergaard in these spot starts, barring injuries, of course."
The decision is up to Collins, so we'll see what he decides to do over the next month or so.
