The New York Yankees were completely obliterated by the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night, courtesy of another dud by starting pitcher Frankie Montas.
Montas has been incredibly disappointing since being acquired from the Oakland Athletics, giving up 14 earned runs in 14 innings with the Yankees.
During that time span, he’s also allowed 18 hits, six walks, and given up two homers. He started with a 3.18 ERA at the end of July, but that number has skyrocketed to 3.87 since coming to the Bronx.
The Yankees made a terrible move with seconds left at the deadline:
General manager Brian Cashman made the decision to trade one of his starting pitchers away, Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery has been lights out with the St. Louis Cardinals, giving up just one earned run over 16.2 innings since the move. He’s only allowed 12 hits and struck out 17 batters in that timeframe, lowering his ERA to 3.29 after departing the Yankees with a 3.69 ERA.
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It is quite clear that Cashman made a lousy move, trading one of their more reliable starting pitchers for an injured outfielder in Harrison Bader.
Bader is a phenomenal defensive centerfielder, but he still sports a walking boot as he recovers from plantar fasciitis. Offensively, Bader is hitting .256 with a 30% on-base rate this season with five homers and 21 RBIs. His numbers aren’t incredible, but he has some underrated power the Yankees could tap into if he returns to form. The issue is, Bader will only have a 2-week sample size to regain his offensive form before the post-season.
The numbers clearly indicate the Yankees lost the Jordan Montgomery trade by a massive margin, especially since Montas looks like one of the worst starting pitchers on the Yankees.
It can take time for players to get acclimate to the Yankees’ way and the hostility fans display when players aren’t performing. Montas hasn’t reached a point where he’s receiving boo’s just yet, but if he keeps struggling, the fans will undoubtedly let him know.