Yunior Montero

WTM’S PLAYER PROFILE

2011
DSL:  1-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.60 WHIP, 5.0 IP, 1.8 BB/9, 7.2 K/9

Montero pitched very well in his only appearance.

2012-13
DNP

MLB voided the first two contracts Montero signed with the Pirates and he was unable to play.

2014
R:  1-4-1, 4.68 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 25.0 IP, 4.3 BB/9, 6.5 K/9

The Pirates didn’t bring Montero to camp in March, but he opened the 2014 season on the GCL roster.  He finally managed to get in some time, pitching entirely in relief, and put up mediocre numbers.  It’s possible the long layoff had some effects.

2015
R:  3-4-0, 4.66 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 36.2 IP, 4.7 BB/9, 10.3 K/9

The Pirates sent Montero back to the GCL, even though he was set to turn 22 late in the season.   He made three starts and appeared in relief ten times, with largely the same results as the previous year apart from a much higher K rate.

2016
A-:  2-1-1, 2.25 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 8.0 IP, 6.8 BB/9, 9.0 K/9
A:  1-1-1, 3.96 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 36.1 IP, 3.7 BB/9, 10.9 K/9

The Pirates sent Montero to Morgantown when its season opened, but after four appearances moved him up to West Virginia.  He pitched mostly in relief there, but made three spot starts.  Montero struck out a lot of hitters, but also had control problems at times.  His ERA suffered from an extremely low strand rate of 52.5%.  Despite a low BABIP of .241, his FIP of 3.02 was nearly a run lower than his ERA.  He was very tough on right-handed hitters, holding them to a 151/253/279 line.

2017
A+:  6-4-0, 5.13 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 54.1 IP, 6.3 BB/9, 11.4 K/9

Montero got off to a spectacular start at Bradenton, striking out 33 of the first 61 batters he faced over nine games.  Things went downhill after that, as he struggled to throw strikes and/or the hitters figured out he wasn’t throwing many strikes.  He had an ERA of 8.51 from the beginning of May through the end of July, before recovering to pitch well after that.  On the season he had a tough time with left-handed hitters, allowing them an OPS of .829.  He allowed right-handed hitters an OPS of .662.

Montero has had a long road to get as far as he has.  He’ll probably go back to Bradenton in 2018.  He’s eligible for the Rule 5 draft now.