Miami Marlins Season in Review: Alvaro Montero

Throughout the 2018/2019 offseason, Marlin Maniac will devote one article each for every player who appeared in the Miami Marlins system for the 2018 season. Every. Single. Player. This is Part 34…of 286. Stay tuned.

Alvaro Montero is a 5’11”, 155 lb. infielder from Bani, DR. Born on June 27th, 2000, Montero signed with the Miami Marlins through free agency on May 17th, 2017. If he makes it to the major leagues eventually, he will be the 26th native of Bani to get that far. Juan Uribe, Miguel Tejada, Luis Vizcaino, and Pedro Baez are amongst the lucky few. Montero has made a good start toward joining them.

Discipline

Despite Montero’s youth, he’s extremely well disciplined at the plate. He’s got decent range factor, but is prone to defensive errors. After joining the rookie-level DSL Marlins in the Dominican Summer League, Montero played 11 games at second base and 19 at shortstop through 2017. 31 games in total would see him slash .260/.471/.288 with 26 walks and only 16 strikeouts in 107 plate appearances. He also stole 11 bases in 13 tries. He finished the year with a .963 fielding percentage at second, but dropped to .875 when playing at shortstop.

In 2018, Montero didn’t again appear at shortstop, appearing 41 times at second base, 13 times at first base, and three times at third. His fielding was improved on all fronts, and his above-average range factor remained unchanged.

Good Eye

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At the plate, Montero improved in nearly every metric, slashing .312/.430/.358 in 64 games, with 24 RBI, and 30 stolen bases in 48 tries. He drew 38 walks and struck out 42 times in 266 plate appearances. On June 7th, Montero went three-for-four with a walk, two runs, two RBI, and four stolen bases. 19 times through the season, Montero finished with multiple hits, including six three-hit games. For his efforts, Montero was named to the mid-season all-star team in the DSL.

The DSL Marlins finished second in the DSL Northwest Division with a 42-30 record. Montero led the DSL club with 51 runs, 67 hits, 38 walks, 30 stolen bases, his .312 average, and his .430 OBP.

Future outlook

The only thing holding Montero back is his age, but after two seasons in the DSL, is now ready for a promotion to the Marlins’ stateside minor league system. I’d say that Montero is advanced enough to skip the domestic rookie GCL Marlins, in the Gulf Coast League, and head straight to the short-season-A Batavia Muckdogs, in the New York-Penn League. At any rate, a conventional timetable would see Montero major-league ready by 2024, but things have been moving faster in the Miami Marlins system. We may end up seeing him much sooner.

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