Mets Think Montero Tipped Pitches In Debut; Starter Makes Adjustments
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Rafael Montero is set to make his second major-league start on Tuesday night when the Mets kick off a three-game series against the Dodgers at Citi Field.
The 23-year-old wasn't exactly brilliant in his debut last week, but he kept his team in the game against the Yankees. Pitching at Citi Field in the Subway Series last Wednesday, Montero allowed three earned runs on five hits in six innings of work. He walked two and struck out three, surrendering homers to Yangervis Solarte and Mark Teixeira in the loss.
The Mets are hoping that some adjustments will help get the rookie his first win on Tuesday.
"I think we picked up a little something that he might be tipping, so we changed things to see if we can get that rectified," Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen told the New York Post. "Get him back to where he was in spring training with the big glove and not giving away things, and I think we'll see a better outing."
Tipping or not, Montero will have to deal with a loaded Los Angeles lineup, which features such feared hitters as Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp.
Matt Harvey, for one, was very impressed with what he saw from Montero in his maiden start against the Bombers.
"I can only imagine what was going through his head," Harvey told the newspaper. "And the way he handled himself, the way that he was able to regroup and go back and just pitch like he did and showed us all of spring training, it was pretty impressive."
Jacob deGrom, who allowed just one run in seven innings in his major-league debut, will start the second game of the series against the Dodgers on Wednesday.
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