The Mets activated infielder Danny Muno after promoting him from Triple-A Las Vegas, and to clear a spot on the roster for him the team optioned starter turned reliever Rafael Montero to Triple A.
The move involving also allows the Mets to normalize their bench size back to five.
Montero, who competed with Dillon Gee for the No. 5 starter position in spring training, failed to supplant Gee and started the regular season in the bullpen.
He pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief and posted a 4.15 ERA. Montero’s last appearance was Thursday vs the Marlins at Citi Field and allowed an unearned run in 2/3 innings.
Some on MMO have been speculating that perhaps the plan is to stretch Montero out to be a starter again. It seems that is exactly the case.
Terry Collins just told reporters that the Mets will institute a six-man rotation, at least for one turn of the rotation.
When Montero is eligible to return in 10 days, the Mets will call him up and use him as a starter for an April 28 start against the Marlins in Miami.
After two shaky starts by Dillon Gee, the Mets could be taking some steps to be prepared in the event he continues to struggle.
In fact Adam Rubin writes:
“Of course, Mets officials are offering no assurances that Montero will be limited to one start. While there are no plans to go to a six-man rotation, it is at least conceivable the Mets bump Dillon Gee to allow Montero to remain in the rotation.”
The move will also give Matt Harvey a rest for one turn, something that Sandy Alderson said they’d do with Harvey during spring training.
I think serves as a wake-up call for Gee who may have one two more starts to justify his spot in the rotation to the team brass. He’ll need to ramp up his performance or risk losing his role to Montero.
