Keider Montero made his season debut for the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, and it was an absolute rollercoaster.

Montero was called up from Triple-A Toledo for a spot start against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. A.J. Hinch wanted him to give the Tigers’ starting rotation a breather during a tough stretch of 23 games in 24 days.

The 24-year-old righty did his job in Detroit’s 5-1 loss to the Brewers. While he didn’t pitch well enough to win (especially with so little run support), he showed plenty of promise with eight strikeouts in five innings.

Montero started and ended his afternoon on a high note, striking out three batters in the first inning and striking out the side in the fifth.

In between, however, he allowed far too much hard contact, serving up three home runs.

In that sense, Montero picked up right where he left off last year. He was up and down in 98.1 innings as a rookie, going 6-6 with a 4.76 ERA and 77 strikeouts.

That inconsistency is a big reason why the Tigers sent him down to the minors after spring training. He needs to be more consistent from inning to inning and start to start if he wants to make it as a big-league starter.

Montero alternates between being completely unhittable one inning and serving up batting practice the next. The volatility is incredibly frustrating and would make him hard to trust in a relief role. Plus, Detroit can’t really afford to let him work through it if he’s going to cost them games and potentially a playoff spot.

He’s made some strides in Triple-A this year, posting a 2.79 ERA, a 0.72 WHIP and an 11:1 K/BB ratio over his first two starts and winning International League Pitcher of the Week. He’s clearly too good for the minors.

Based on his first Major League start of 2025, however, he still has work to do, especially if he wants a regular role on the Tigers’ outstanding pitching staff. The talent is there, but he still needs to harness it, so it’s hard to see where he fits on this team until he does.