According to Hector Gomez of Deportivo 101, Rafael Montero was told that he has made the Mets Opening Day roster as a right-handed reliever.
Montero, 26, impressed Mets brass from the first day of spring training with a new attitude and a refined focus. He may have claimed his bullpen role after tossing five scoreless innings on Saturday and wrapping up Grapefruit League play with a 1.96 ERA and a 21:8 K:BB ratio in 18.1 innings pitched.
A former top prospect for the Mets, Montero got his third chance at the big league level in 2016, making three starts and six relief appearances. But his struggles continued, posting a 8.05 ERA, 2.053 WHIP and 16 walks in only 19 innings.
Montero has now pitched 70.1 innings over three major league seasons with a 5.15 ERA, 5.02 FIP and 1.64 WHIP. The lone bright side to his major league stint is his 9.2 K/9 to this point.
It wasn’t long ago that Montero dominated in the lower minors with the aggressive approach of pounding the bottom of the strike zone with his sinking fastball and utilizing a plus changeup.
That approach still hasn’t worked for Montero in the majors, but he’s still young and maybe something has finally clicked for him.
