Former huge league catcher Jesus Montero handed away lately, in line with a report from El Extrabase. The report signifies that Montero was a part of a severe site visitors accident on October 5 and handed following a number of days within the hospital. Montero was simply 35 years outdated.
Montero is greatest identified for having been one of many league’s most elite prospects within the early 2010s. Signed out of Venezuela by the Yankees as an novice, Montero made his professional debut in 2007 on the age of 17. His second skilled season noticed him escape on the Single-A degree, the place he hit .326/.376/.491 with 17 homers and 34 doubles in 132 video games. That sturdy efficiency earned Montero loads of consideration previous to the 2009 season, when he grew to become a consensus top-50 prospect within the sport.
The teenager’s prospect star continued to shoot upwards from there. His 2009 season was reduce quick by a damaged finger that restricted him to simply 92 video games, however he raked when wholesome and seemed totally succesful in 44 video games on the Double-A degree. That was sufficient to get him promoted to Triple-A for the beginning of the 2010 season, at which level Montero was considered as a consensus top-5 prospect within the sport. Baseball America went so far as to call him the game’s No. 3 prospect, behind solely future Corridor of Famers Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. Montero did what he may to ship on the hype at Triple-A in 2010, slashing .289/.353/.517 with 21 homers and 34 doubles in 123 video games.
The subsequent step for Montero was the majors, and after spending many of the 2011 season at Triple-A he lastly made his huge league debut with the Yankees on September 1 in opposition to the Pink Sox at Fenway Park. Whereas he didn’t document successful in his first huge league recreation, Montero was hit by a pitch in his first recreation and recorded a run scored. He went on to publish unbelievable numbers down the stretch, with a .328/.406/.590 slash line throughout 69 plate appearances. He made the Yankees’ postseason roster and received into Recreation 4 of the ALDS in opposition to the Tigers, the place he went 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI.
That will be Montero’s final look in a Yankees uniform. In January of 2012, he was traded to the Mariners in what on the time was considered as a blockbuster deal. Montero and teammate Hector Noesi had been shipped to Seattle in change for All-Star right-hander Michael Pineda and pitching prospect Jose Campos. Pineda didn’t dwell as much as his sensational rookie marketing campaign after being traded to New York, however did handle to publish a strong 4.16 ERA in 89 begins from 2014 to 2017 with the Yankees after battling accidents in his first two seasons with the group. Neither Noesi nor Campos had a lot influence within the majors, although Noesi did handle to pitch in components for six MLB seasons.
As for Montero, the star prospect cut up time between catcher and DH for the Mariners in 2012 as an on a regular basis participant. Sadly, his season didn’t go as both he or Seattle had been absolutely hoping it could. Montero was strong sufficient on the plate however hit simply .260/.298/.386 with 15 doubles and 20 homers. It was a roughly league common efficiency, however with Montero nonetheless in his age-22 marketing campaign there was loads of purpose for optimism that he would have the ability to take off sooner or later. That didn’t come to cross, nonetheless, as Montero struggled early within the 2013 season earlier than being sidelined by a torn meniscus and accepting a 50-game suspension as a part of the Biogensis scandal.
A mix of accidents, under-performance, and the aforementioned suspension left Montero restricted to simply 73 video games within the majors between 2013 and 2015. In that point, he hit a disappointing .217/.255/.374 in 243 plate appearances. Previous to the 2016 season, the Mariners designated Montero for project. He went on to play within the minor leagues for the Blue Jays and Orioles all through the 2016 and ’17 seasons and even discovered himself named to the Triple-A All-Star recreation throughout his time with Triple-A Buffalo, however was suspended for a second time for the usage of a banned substance.
Montero performed within the Mexican League in 2017 and 2018 earlier than logging 29 video games in Venezuelan winter league play. He performed his final skilled baseball recreation throughout the 2020-21 winter league season. In all, Montero made it into 226 MLB video games throughout components of 5 seasons and hit .253/.295/.398 with 28 house runs and 31 doubles.
We at MLB Commerce Rumors ship our condolences to Montero’s household, associates, family members and former teammates.
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