Jesus Montero

Jesus Montero is not in the Mariners’ lineup for the second straight day Friday.

The M’s don’t have the DH available this weekend against the Rockies, so Montero will sit while John Jaso makes the start behind the plate. Montero has just three hits in his last 30 at-bats, so perhaps the rest will do him some good.

Jesus Montero is not in Thursday’s lineup.

It’s just a routine day off for Montero, who is batting .248/.277/.398 with five home runs and 17 RBI in 35 games this year. John Jaso is catching and Mike Carp is serving as Seattle’s DH on Thursday against the Indians.

Jesus Montero homered in his return to Yankee Stadium, but it wasn’t enough to deliver the Mariners a victory on Friday.

He finished the night just 1-for-4 with the solo blast off of Hiroki Kuroda in the sixth inning. He’s off to a solid start to the season as the Mariners cleanup hitter, hitting .276 with five homers and 17 RBI now. The Mariners clearly look like the early winner in the Michael Pineda deal.

Jesus Montero had an RBI double as part of a ninth-inning rally Monday as the Mariners came back to beat the Tigers 3-2.

The Mariners scored all three of their runs in the ninth, with Montero’s double tying the game. Catching sure seems to suit Montero a lot better than DH did. He was back behind the plate tonight, and he’s now hitting .425 with three homers and nine RBI in 11 games as a catcher. He’s hit .200 with one homer and seven RBI in 17 games at DH.

Jesus Montero is not in Thursday’s lineup.

It’s just a routine day off for Montero, who started behind the plate Wednesday night. He’s batting .292/.301/.449 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 23 games played.

Jesus Montero will start behind the plate again Wednesday.

This will be his seventh start at catcher this season and his first on back-to-back days. The slumping Justin Smoak will serve as the Mariners’ designated hitter and bat seventh while Alex Liddi will make the start at first base.

Jesus Montero will start behind the plate Tuesday night against the Rays.

This will be Montero’s seventh appearance (sixth start) at catcher this season. He should be able to reach 10 games started while Miguel Olivo (groin) is on the disabled list and figures to be a pretty solid lock to reach 20 games started before the season is out. Dustin Ackley will serve as the DH Tuesday while Kyle Seager plays second base and Alex Liddi plays third. John Jaso is taking a seat against the left-hander Matt Moore, but he should be in there against most right-handed starters.

Jesus Montero and John Jaso are expected to share playing time behind the plate with Miguel Olivo (groin) headed to the disabled list.

Montero has already caught six games (five starts) this season while Jaso has been used exclusively out of the DH spot. Olivo is expected to miss more than the minimum, so Montero should be able to get to 10 starts within the next couple of weeks. That’s mighty good news for fantasy owners.

Jesus Montero launched his fourth homer in Monday’s loss to the Rays.

The blast in the top of the 11th inning gave the Mariners a brief lead before the Rays came back to win. It was the lone hit in five trips to the plate for Montero, but he’s now gone deep three times over the last nine games. He’s gained catcher eligibility in some leagues and could be a fantasy stud in over the course of the year.