Baseball America's May 11 Daily Dish: Luis Montanez

[1908]

The first round of the 2000 draft is littered with players who haven't exactly lived up to their potential.

 

Among the names of first-rounders that year are the likes of Adam Johnson, who went second overall to the Twins and spent some time in the independent Golden League before singing with the Athletics last year. There is also Justin Wayne (fifth overall to the Expos), who also spent part of last season in independent ball. Or Mike Stodolka (fourth), who is trying to resurrect his career as a corner infielder in the Royals system at high Class A High Desert after struggling on the mound for six seasons and never sniffing Triple-A.

 

Needless to say, Cubs outfielder Luis Montanez won't ever live up to the expectations that come along with being the third overall pick in that draft, but since he moved from shortstop to the outfield, his bat has come to life.

 

The first five seasons of his pro career had few highlights and plenty of struggles. Montanez spent three straight seasons in high Class A Florida State League, before his career hit rock bottom in 2004, when he was sent back to short-season Boise to ease his conversion to the outfield.

 

In 2005, he spent most of the year as a 23-year-old in the low Class A Midwest League, before getting a late season promotion to Double-A West Tenn. In Montanez' case, moving backwards may have been just what he needed, as he seemed to regain his confidence with a strong 2005 season at Peoria that has carried over to West Tenn this year.

 

"I really think it was just a matter of time for him," Double-A West Tenn hitting coach Tom Beyers said. "His personality and the way he plays the game is so confidence-driven and he needs to have some kind of success to feed off of. He's always shown flashes of being able to do good things with the bat, but now he's been able to incorporate consistency in there as well.

 

"His work habits have improved in that he now has a routine he believes in and is taking that into games."

 

Montanez has been the Diamond Jaxx hottest bat, hitting .353/.433/.448 in 116 at-bats this season. The career .272 hitter currently leads the Southern League in batting.

 

"Early in his career, there was just no comfort level anywhere for Luis," Beyers said. "The stress of the expectations, coupled with the stress of not playing well defensively, passed along into his hitting.

 

"But he's come a long way since the change. He's made himself into a pretty good outfielder and has been one of our most consistent hitters this season. He always had that great potential. Now it's really exciting to see him reaping the rewards for his hard work."

 

The 24-year-old is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak in which he's batting .555 (15-for-27). Over the past two nights against Mississippi, Montanez was 7-for-9 with five RBIs.

 

He's also commanding the strike zone a lot better, which Beyers said comes back to his maturation as a hitter.

 

"He's clearly focused on hitting and being the best outfielder he can be," he said. "He's understanding pitching patterns, and really has an idea of what pitchers try to do to him in game situations. And that's a big step. Hopefully we'll see this kind of consistency throughout the year."

[Ding Dong Johnson]

It's nice to see he's finally doing something. I still have my doubts that he'll ever contribute at the big league level, but he may prove me wrong at the rate he's going.

[goonys evil twin]

Could he be the platoon option with Jones?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

West Tenn has two intriguing stories as former prospects Montanez and Jackson attempt to resurrect their careers.

[biittner77]

His sister is a model.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

His sister is a model.

 

Prove it.

[biittner77]

His sister is a model.

 

Prove it.

 

I know she was in the hottest chick contest but I don't know her 1st name. It might be ermilita or Heather but I can't search usch images here at school. :x

[RyCubsFan]

What is so impressive about his current .372 batting average is that only 6 players in the whole league right now (with enough bats to qualify) have batting averages above .300. Walker is 6th in the league right now with a .302 BA. Compared to the rest of the Southern League, Montanez is tearing it up.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Is it Joanne?

 

Regardless, can he actually play defense in the OF? Which positions can he play? If he can keep up the hitting for a few weeks and is not a butcher on D, why not give him a shot?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Is it Joanne?

 

Regardless, can he actually play defense in the OF? Which positions can he play? If he can keep up the hitting for a few weeks and is not a butcher on D, why not give him a shot?

 

I saw him for two games, and that's really not enough to make a judgement, but he looked competent out there. He did make one rather nice diving shoestring catch.

[RyCubsFan]

Regardless, can he actually play defense in the OF? Which positions can he play? If he can keep up the hitting for a few weeks and is not a butcher on D, why not give him a shot?

 

 

Can JJones play defense? Can Pierre or Jones throw?

 

I hope that Montanez and/or Nic Jackson (who's similarly hitting for high average w/out much power) get a shot this year in the Bigs.

[RyCubsFan]

Have they ever tried Luis at 2nd base?

 

I worry that he doesn't have the power for a corner outfielder...unless these doubles start turning into homeruns. Since he was originally a shortstop, would second base be a good position to try for him?

[1908]

West Tenn has two intriguing stories as former prospects Montanez and Jackson attempt to resurrect their careers.

Montanez is 2+ years younger than Jackson. Luis doesn't have a great shot, but he's got a much better shot than Nic.

[1908]

Have they ever tried Luis at 2nd base?

 

I worry that he doesn't have the power for a corner outfielder...unless these doubles start turning into homeruns. Since he was originally a shortstop, would second base be a good position to try for him?

I doubt the Cubs try to move him again. I suspect they're hoping he'll turn into a 4th outfielder at this point.

[RyCubsFan]

West Tenn has two intriguing stories as former prospects Montanez and Jackson attempt to resurrect their careers.

Montanez is 2+ years younger than Jackson. Luis doesn't have a great shot, but he's got a much better shot than Nic.

 

While it's certainly too late for Nic to have a HOF career, I don't think his age is too much of a problem. After all, injuries are what held him back, not poor performance. So I don't think its fair to use his age as a reason why he won't be successful in the majors.

[goonys evil twin]

Have they ever tried Luis at 2nd base?

 

I worry that he doesn't have the power for a corner outfielder...unless these doubles start turning into homeruns. Since he was originally a shortstop, would second base be a good position to try for him?

 

I'm pretty sure they did try him at 2B early on.

 

While it's certainly too late for Nic to have a HOF career, I don't think his age is too much of a problem. After all, injuries are what held him back, not poor performance. So I don't think its fair to use his age as a reason why he won't be successful in the majors.

 

It was largely injury, but Nic doesn't have much of a performance history to fall back on. Career line of .264/.321/.411. He had a career K/BB of 202/69 coming in, that's worse than Dave Kelton.

[1908]

While it's certainly too late for Nic to have a HOF career, I don't think his age is too much of a problem. After all, injuries are what held him back, not poor performance. So I don't think its fair to use his age as a reason why he won't be successful in the majors.

You don't think age is working against a 26-year-old OF at AA? No doubt Nic's had some rotten luck as far as injuries go, but it is what it is at this point.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I enjoyed watching Nic and became a fan of his when he played in Des Moines, but his numbers left a lot to be desired. I hope he pans out and can contribute, but I will not hold my breath.

[RynoRules]

I would love to divest ourselves of Jones and have this OF in 07':

 

Pie (RF) - Murton (LF) - Montanez (CF)

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I would love to divest ourselves of Jones and have this OF in 07':

 

Pie (RF) - Murton (LF) - Montanez (CF)

 

Uhh, Pie would have to be the CF. That OF would really lack power.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

His sister is a model.

 

Prove it.

Joanne Montanez

[anemic offense]

His sister is a model.

 

Prove it.

Joanne Montanez

Wow :shock: :shock:

[abuck1220]

I would love to divest ourselves of Jones and have this OF in 07':

 

Pie (RF) - Murton (LF) - Montanez (CF)

 

brutal. that would make the '06 outfield look good.

[goonys evil twin]

I would love to divest ourselves of Jones and have this OF in 07':

 

Pie (RF) - Murton (LF) - Montanez (CF)

 

brutal. that would make the '06 outfield look good.

 

No doubt. But seriously, the way things are going, why not call up Luis to platoon with Jones now? Dump Bynum and send Theriot back down, and then maybe call up Hoffpauir. You'd still have plenty of middle infield help, with Walker and Cedeno backed up by Neifi and Hairston. If they refuse to shake up the coaching staff despite all the losses, and they refuse to make a trade because they think they'd overpay, then why not give a couple hot hitting prospects a chance to do something? And don't just call them up to sit the bench, let them play.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I would love to divest ourselves of Jones and have this OF in 07':

 

Pie (RF) - Murton (LF) - Montanez (CF)

 

brutal. that would make the '06 outfield look good.

 

No doubt. But seriously, the way things are going, why not call up Luis to platoon with Jones now? Dump Bynum and send Theriot back down, and then maybe call up Hoffpauir. You'd still have plenty of middle infield help, with Walker and Cedeno backed up by Neifi and Hairston. If they refuse to shake up the coaching staff despite all the losses, and they refuse to make a trade because they think they'd overpay, then why not give a couple hot hitting prospects a chance to do something? And don't just call them up to sit the bench, let them play.

 

Why not just bring up Restovich again? He has a better pedigree and is absolutely pounding the ball at a higher level than Montanez. Also, Montanez is actually hitting better against RHP than LHP thus far.