Guess who’s back. After throwing a live BP session on Monday, Justin Verlander has been announced as the Detroit Tigers starting pitcher for Sunday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. Keider Montero will be moved to the bullpen to open a spot in the starting rotation.
Hopefully Verlander showed better stuff in his bullpen session than he has in starts at the Triple-A level. He was absolutely shelled in his last start against the St. Paul Saints. Still, once he started making rehab starts and recovering from them without any ill effects to his injured left hip, the clock was ticking to reinstate the longtime ace and future Hall of Famer.
The choice of Montero to the bullpen is a little strange, however. The most durable pitcher in the Tigers’ organization over the past four years, Montero has already made 13 starts this season, averaging six innings per start and producing a 3.61 ERA/4.00 FIP combination.
The more obvious choice would seem to be Troy Melton to the pen. Montero has a good changeup and a five pitch mix that he’s commanded very well. He does have a lot more trouble with left-handed hitters and should thrive in the bullpen, but the same is even more true in Melton’s case, and his splitter is still mostly a show-me pitch that he doesn’t command with consistent authority.
Ultimately, this may not matter that much as who knows what Verlander might have to offer at this point. It may be a fairly short-lived experiment. However, Melton throwing 99 mph out of the pen and leaning into his cutter and slider combination makes him a pretty lethal relief arm. Sitting mid-90’s as a starter his fourseamer is fairly vulnerable. In either case the two young right-handers don’t really get enough whiffs to really dominate as of yet. It’s just peculiar that Montero’s consistently solid track record in a starting role the past three season doesn’t earn him the nod. Still, he should be able to sit 96-98 mph in a relief role and will be a big help to a bullpen that has struggled to hold leads this season.
Things will get even more complicated when Jack Flaherty returns from his ankle injury, which sounds minor and likely to only keep him out until June 27, when he’s eligible to return from the 15-day IL. Flaherty shouldn’t be taking starts from Melton or Montero either, but they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it.
For now, the home crowd will finally get a look at Justin Verlander back in Comerica Park in a Tigers’ uniform. Let’s hope he’s up to the task. The Tigers are in no position to let nostalgia rule their decision-making, and if Verlander struggles and continues to get chances, things are going to get ugly. It’s hard not to hope where Justin Verlander is concerned. He’s been written off as washed up before and returned to surprise critics. We’ll see if he’s got another resurgence left in the tank.
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