Deadline addition honing command in Tigers' system

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

After short starts for his first two outings in the Tigers’ organization, Joseph Montalvo finally got a longer look Thursday in his third start for High-A West Michigan. It was long enough to provide a snapshot of why Detroit coveted the 22-year-old right-hander from the Rangers’ organization as part of the return in last month’s Andrew Chafin trade (along with Triple-A reliever Chase Lee), and why he still has a ways to go before providing a return for the deal in the big leagues.

Montalvo walked three batters and hit another over 4 1/3 innings and threw 45 of 81 pitches for strikes as he worked early on corralling his fastball in the zone and getting his slider to tempt left-handed hitters from a Lake County lineup stocked with ranked prospects from the Guardians’ system, several with on-base rates well above their batting average.

Montalvo’s command of the strike zone has vastly improved this season, which is partly why he caught Detroit’s attention.

“I think my command got better, being able to throw my offspeed more in the zone, more consistently,” Montalvo said during a group interview with reporters a couple weeks ago, barely a week after his trade. “Getting ahead in the count is something that opened myself to work around the zone and being able to work my pitches.”

Montalvo was anticipating such challenges from hitters, noting that the Midwest League had a little more experience than the South Atlantic League, where he had spent the season for the Rangers’ High-A affiliate, the Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads. Thursday marked just his third time this season walking more than two batters in a game, and his first walks of any kind in Detroit’s system after seven innings over his previous two outings.

Yet at times Thursday, particularly as he settled down for his final couple innings, that slider – a pitch he calls a sweeper but which has sharp vertical as well as horizontal movement – was a reminder of Montalvo’s tantalizing potential and his ranking as Detroit’s No. 18 prospect in a system deep with young talent. The sweeper/slider drew six whiffs, five of them over his final six batters as he honed in on strike-to-ball movement, including strikeouts to three of his final four hitters. Guardians No. 13 prospect Jacob Cozart, a second-round pick from last month’s Draft, fanned on two of them to close out Montalvo’s outing.

“My sweeper, it looks like a fastball when I throw it,” said Montalvo. “That's something that I worked on a lot last year. I wanted to make sure that it looks like a fastball out of my hand, and then at the end has that action. In the hitters' eye, it can be a fastball instead of a sweeper all the way.”

In the Tigers’ eye, it’s a wipeout type of pitch. When Montalvo hones his changeup to reinforce his three-pitch mix, it’ll be even better.

“Montalvo is a really interesting young arm who was already punching out a lot of guys and has already flashed the shapes that we feel like we can help continue to develop in this organization,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said following the trade. “We think there's a lot of growth for him. We love the delivery. We love the athlete. We love the performance that he's had in his young career, and we think that he still has a ton of opportunity moving forward.”

Montalvo gave up three runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings in Thursday’s 7-1 Whitecaps loss, but his ERA remains a respectable 3.18 for West Michigan and 2.56 for the season.

Montalvo was still getting acclimated to the new system, new league and new teammates a couple weeks ago. He was a find by the Rangers in the 20th round of the 2021 Draft, signing out of high school in Florida after moving from Puerto Rico as a teenager and becoming a pitcher in just his senior year. But as abrupt as the trade was, he was excited for the chance. Performance-wise, he has fit in just fine since.

“I always had it in my mind that [a trade] could happen,” Montalvo said. “You never think that it's going to happen at the moment. But if it happens, at least you're ready mentally. But at the end of the day, it's still a business. …

“You want to get to the big leagues with the team that signed you. That's something that if you ask any player, they'll probably tell you the same. But I'm happy to be here, and hopefully one day I'll be up there in Detroit and win a World Series. That's the ultimate goal.”