The good news for the Detroit Tigers is that they were able to get off to a good start against the basement-dwelling Colorado Rockies on Friday evening, enjoying a 6-2 victory at Comerica Park to improve their record to 68-79.
And while the Tigers are back at it this afternoon in downtown Detroit, they won’t have one of their key arms available.
Pitcher Keider Montero has traveled back to his native Venezuela for the birth of his daughter, and per the latest report from longtime Tigers Insider Chris McCosky, he made it just in time.
“Keider Montero did make it home to Venezuela in time for the birth of his baby girl,” McCosky wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Congrats, pops.”
The Detroit Tigers Placed Pitcher Keider Montero On The Paternity List
The Tigers announced that Montero would be heading to the paternity list as he traveled back to Venezuela for the birth of his daughter, and was being replaced by Andrew Sears, who was called up from the minors.
So far this season, Montero has gone 9-8 with a 3.55 ERA, 98 strikeouts, and a 1.03 WHIP.
Recently, manager AJ Hinch had some advice for Montero with regard to his impending fatherhood.
“Keider is about to be a father for the first time, and sometimes I think we need to keep things in perspective when life-changing things like that happen,” Hinch said.
Keider Montero Has Played His Entire MLB Career With The Tigers
Montero signed with the Tigers as an international free agent in 2016 and worked his way through Detroit’s minor league system before reaching the majors in 2024.
He went 15-4 with 160 strikeouts between three minor league levels in 2023, earning a spot on the Tigers’ 40-man roster that offseason. As a rookie in 2024, Montero went 6-6 with a 4.76 ERA in 19 appearances, including 16 starts, and threw a memorable complete-game shutout against the Rockies.
He followed that with a 5-3 record and 4.37 ERA in 20 appearances in the 2025 campaign, and later picked up a save during Detroit’s American League Divisional Series playoff matchup with Seattle.
Montero began the 2026 season in Triple-A Toledo before returning to Detroit in April.
Life-Changing News For Tigers’ Keider Montero