Tigers bolster bullpen by acquiring veteran Rafael Montero from Braves

Chris McCosky, The Detroit News on Jul 30, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DETROIT — The Tigers bolstered their bullpen on Wednesday night, acquiring veteran reliever Rafael Montero from the Atlanta Braves for Double-A infielder Jim Jarvis.

It was only a couple of years ago that Montero, now 34 and on an expiring contract, was a key piece of the Houston Astros’ postseason bullpen, helping them win the World Series in 2022.

He was traded from the Astros, where he spent the previous four seasons, to the Braves on April 8. His surface numbers aren’t pretty – 5.40 ERA and 1.409 WHIP in 38 1/3 innings. But those numbers are inflated by four blow-up outings.

He’s pitched scoreless baseball in 25 of his 36 outings and has limited hitters to a .657 OPS and .211 batting average. He’s been especially tough on lefties (.197 average, .631 OPS).

When he’s in the strike zone and commanding his 95-mph four-seam fastball, he can get a lot a chase and swing-and-miss with his splitter (35% whiff rate). But his command has been erratic, evidenced by a 13.9% walk rate.

The reliever market was booming Wednesday. The Phillies acquired closer Jhoan Duran from the Twins and the Mets got Ryan Helsley from the Cardinals and Tyler Rogers from the Giants.

Both teams gave up high-level prospects.

In Jarvis, the Tigers gave up a player who was not ranked in their top 30 and was behind top prospects Kevin McGonigle and Bryce Rainer.

Also Wednesday, the Tigers designated for assignment Tyler Owens, a right-handed reliever, to clear a roster spot for Montero.

The trade deadline is 6 p.m. Thursday.