The New York Yankees were holding their breath early this week, waiting for MRI results to return following starting pitcher Frankie Montas feeling uncomfortable with his shoulder.
Montas indicated after his most recent start that he was experiencing a bit of discomfort but that it shouldn’t keep him out for long, if not just a few rest days. In fact, it seems as if Frankie is in line to make his next projected start, which would be in a few days, maybe Friday.
Frankie Montas may not miss much time after the MRI on his troublesome right shoulder didn’t show anything significant.
Per Jon Heyman and Dan Martin of the New York Post.
- Yankees are getting surprising offensive production from veteran catcher
- Yankees’ super-utility man is seeing his numbers plummet back down to Earth
- Yankees’ $98 million slugger in the middle of another ice-cold stretch
The Yankees need more out of their star acquisition:
The Yankees haven’t gotten the best version of Montas ever since acquiring him from the Oakland Athletics at the trade deadline.
In August, he featured a 7.01 ERA, including 20 earned runs allowed over 25.2 innings. He also gave up five homers and collected just 20 strikeouts in five appearances.
So far in September, he hosts a 5.14 ERA, giving up eight earned runs over 14 innings. Over his last two games started, he’s allowed a combined eight earned runs over nine innings.
Based on the regression of his stuff, Montas might be suffering through fundamental adjustments curated by pitching coach Matt Blake.
Blake has asked Montas to focus primarily on his 4-seam fastball, seeing a regression in the usage of his sinker and cutter, two of his primary pitches while featuring with the Athletics. It is possible that simply transitioning to the Yankees has dampened his production, which it does for most players early on in their tenure.
Up to this point, though, it doesn’t seem as if the Yankees can trust the starter during the playoffs. He’s never enjoyed a postseason appearance, so there’s no sample size of action to justify a high leverage spot. Seemingly, Nestor Cortés seems to be the lock at No. 2 behind Gerrit Cole, and Montas could quickly lose ground if Luis Severino returns and dominates from a starting spot.
The Yankees need Montas to string together two consecutive performances before the season ends of quality pitching. If he continues to struggle, I wouldn’t be surprised if he dropped to the bottom of the rotation in the playoffs, which certainly wasn’t expected when he was required for a pricey haul at the deadline.