Mets place Rafael Montero on taxi squad

After having to use a majority of their bullpen last night, the Mets have brought Rafael Montero to New York and placed him on the taxi squad. He won't be activated for tonight's game against the Marlins, but he could be available for Wednesday.

Montero, who is penciled in as a starter for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s, would help shoulder some of the load for an overtaxed Mets bullpen. Regular long reliever Logan Verrett was unavailable last night, as he is set to make a spot start in place of Jacob deGrom tomorrow.

Montero, a top-ten prospect in the organization before exceeding his rookie limits in 2015, has had mixed results in the majors. He has a career 4.14 ERA in 54.1 innings, with nine starts and six relief appearances. He has shown strikeout ability across multiple levels, including a rate of 9.1 strikeouts per nine in the big leagues, but command issues followed him to New York in both 2014 and 2015, with a career rate  of 4.6 walks per nine innings.

Still just 25 years old, Montero struggled with injuries last season, throwing just 28.2 innings across all levels. In his only start for Las Vegas this year, he struck out five and walked two, allowing one earned run in five innings.