Following Friday night’s game, New York Yankees trade acquisition Frankie Montas indicated that he was feeling an issue with his shoulder, heading for an MRI that would showcase any structural damage.
However, Montas has alleviated concerns, stating that the shoulder issue with simply normal soreness after a full game of pitching. The former Oakland Athletics starter missed 17 games earlier this season, but it seems as if that injury is behind him, despite a lackluster start with the Yankees.
“Today, I woke up and just felt normal soreness, nothing crazy,” Montas said.
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The deterioration of Frankie Montas has been ugly for the Yankees:
Since joining the Yankees, Montas hosts a 6.35 ERA, 7.49 strikeouts per nine, and a career-low 66% left on-base rate over 39.2 innings. With Oakland, he was an entirely different player, earning a 3.18 ERA, 9.37 strikeouts per nine, and a 73.6% left on-base rate.
It is quite odd to see his struggles, but it is also evident that the coaching staff for the Bombers has changed his pitch sequence and tweaked his fundamentals, which has finished his efficiency.
The question that must be asked: why try to fix something that’s not broken?
It is understandable that the Yankees and pitching coach Matt Blake have a strategy in mind for each individual arm, believing they could improve Montas down the stretch, but instead, they completely ruined his game after putting together a stellar start of the year.
Interestingly, his fastball velocity lowered from 96.4 mph to 95.9 mph, seeing a huge spike in 4-seam fastball and a decrease in sinker/cutter usage.
Having struggled wearing pinstripes, the Yankees need to revert him back to the norm if they want to get maximum value. At this point, confidence is dwindling he can be a starting pitcher in the postseason, especially with the return of Luis Severino nearing.