Painting the Black: Jesus Montero Against Matt Moore

There are downsides to having a primary team, like developing tunnel vision to the other divisions. The Yankees guaranteed Jesus Montero would make fewer trips to Tropicana Field when they traded him to the Mariners. With only seven scheduled visits on the season, Montero demands attention when he plays at the Trop. This isn’t my first tango with Jesus, though my strongest memory entailed Joe Maddon intentionally loading the bases so as to face Montero with nobody out. (He would ground into a double play, albeit one that scored a run.) The Montero intrigue intensified with Matt Moore taking the mound on Tuesday night.

Sam Miller wrote about Moore facing Miguel Cabrera for the first time earlier this season. I made a joke to Ben Lindbergh during Moore’s first tangle with Albert Pujols along similar lines.  Montero-Moore is different from those two encounters. This isn’t a case of hotshot versus established superstar, but rather hotshot versus hotshot. In five years, Montero-Moore might be a matchup of all-world caliber ballplayers. Or it might be a battle of former busts playing out the string in Triple-A.  Nobody knows. Either way, I took notes to commemorate the occasion:

Montero-Moore, Take One
Pitch One: Takes 94-mph fastball inside for a ball
Pitch Two: Swings through 94-mph fastball up and away
Pitch Three: Takes 82-mph curve away for a strike
Pitch Four: Takes 96-mph fastball away for a ball
Pitch Five: Takes 95-mph fastball up and in for a ball
Pitch Six: Hits a 96-mph fastball down and in and singles off the center field wall

Montero smoked Moore’s fastball about 403 feet into the center field wall. The ball was inches away from being a home run, but Montero’s slowness and B.J. Upton’s strong arm limited the big guy to one base. In pictures:

Montero-Moore, Take Two
Pitch One: Fouls off a 94-mph fastball over the plate
Pitch Two: Takes a 93-mph fastball inside for a ball
Pitch Three: Fouls off an 87-mph changeup over the plate
Pitch Four: Fouls off a 80-mph curve over the plate
Pitch Five: Takes a 95-mph fastball low for a ball
Pitch Six: Hits a 82-mph curve the other way, through the right side of the infield for a single

By Montero’s third trip, Moore had exited the game. He had struck out seven batters in five innings, but a messy pitch count led Maddon to insert Burke Badenhop. Badenhop is good for what he is—a groundball-getting situational reliever—but nobody will remember where they were when Montero took hacks against him for the first time.  Good thing, too, because their encounter lasted one pitch:

Montero-Badenhop, Take One
Pitch One: Hits an 88-mph fastball up the middle for a single.

Montero got one more at-bat on the night, this time against Joel Peralta. Again, Peralta is a fine pitcher, but in five years he won’t be in organized baseball. Nevertheless, Montero isn’t picky:

Montero-Peralta, Take One
Pitch One: Takes a 79-mph curve for a strike
Pitch Two: Hits a 80-mph splitter down the left field line for a double

That would be a 4-for-4 night and the first four-hit game of Montero’s major-league career. (Montero had a three-hit game against the Rays last season—I bring out the best in him.) Making broad observations after one game, 15 pitches, and eight swings is nonsensical, so I took in a few more Montero’s plate appearances, about 17 in total. During those plate appearances, I witnessed Montero hitting two home runs. One came against Wade Davis the night before, as Montero took a pitch fading out of the zone and hit it 402 feet into right-center field. On another occasion, Montero hit a 91-mph fastball from Ricky Romero over the left-center field wall:

The above set of images provides a visual on Montero’s impressive bat speed. Either Romero’s fastball is over the plate or close to it before Montero’s hands begin bringing the bat forward. Yet, in a split-second, the bat is into the zone and the barrel is on the ball. It’s a display that tells you everything about Montero’s wrists and hands.  When Jason Parks wrote about scouting hitters, he included the motto: The better the hands, the better the hitter.  Montero is a highly dexterous hitter.

Something else I grew to appreciate about Montero is his hitting style. Montero is a hitter with power, not a power hitter—Kevin Goldstein made the distinction and it works. You won’t see Montero swinging out of his shoes in order to generate his power. He doesn’t have to. Instead, he keeps a balanced approach that has some seeing a future .300 hitter.  More questionable is Montero’s walk rate. Though he seems to have an idea about the zone, he enjoys swinging the bat and has enough plate coverage to terrorize the outside corner.

Montero’s age (22) and position are also worth mentioning. An injury to Miguel Olivo and Eric Wedge’s disdain for John Jaso left Montero as the Mariners’ primary catcher. Montero looked as poor as advertised behind the plate, from his mechanical flaw (he leaves his throwing hand in front of his body), to having balls ricochet all over, to a slow release that mitigates his arm strength. It wouldn’t be too surprising if the Mariners decide a permanent move to first base or designated hitter is in order sooner than later. Not just because of his defensive flaws, but because his body needs to stay healthy and his bat needs to stay in the lineup.