Frankie Montas still feeling his way along in Bronx
Yankees starting pitcher Frankie Montas delivers against the Mets during the first inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
If Frankie Montas were just another member of the Yankees’ rotation, the pressure on him still would be unlike anything he previously experienced on the low-budget, zero-expectation A’s. Demanding. Unforgiving.
But Montas isn’t that lucky. And neither is GM Brian Cashman for that matter.
For Montas, it’s complicated.
The simple part is that Cashman traded for Montas as a front-of-the-rotation starter that could back Gerrit Cole, the $324-million ace, and provide some protection for the late-season workloads of Nestor Cortes Jr. and Luis Severino as both were dealing with innings concerns down the stretch. Montas, with a career 3.86 ERA and coming off 32 starts that earned him sixth-place Cy Young finish a year ago, seemed well-suited for the role.
But here’s where things begin to snowball a bit for Montas, who hadn’t quite lived up to his billing through the first three starts in pinstripes (0-1, 9.00 ERA, 1.714 WHIP) before Tuesday night. From the jump, he’s going to draw comparisons to Sonny Gray, another promising A’s arm who flamed out -- wilting in the Bronx caldron -- after Cashman traded for him in the heat of the 2017 playoff chase.
Unfair? Probably. All Montas did wrong is come from the same place as Gray, under similar circumstances. On Tuesday night, however, Montas finally gave the Yankees hope he wouldn’t be a Gray 2.0, shaking off some early trouble on the Subway Series stage and nearly getting though six innings. He allowed six hits and two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings, striking out six -- five straight at one point -- with one walk before the Yankees went on to defeat the Mets, 4-2.
Montas labored through a 27-pitch first, but stranded four runners through two innings and the Mets didn’t score until Starling Marte’s two-out single in the fifth. The Mets had two runners hung up in the sixth when Pete Alonso stumbled at third base trying to score on Jeff McNeil’s double. But Gleyber Torres’ failed attempt at a diving tag of McNeil let Alonso rumble home and ended Montas’ night.
Consider Tuesday at least a step in the right direction. The main reason Montas wound up with the Yankees is because Cashman couldn’t pull off a trade for the No. 1 ace in this year’s market, Luis Castillo. The GM got outbid by the Mariners, and so he had to settle for Montas as a consolation prize -- one that’s a distant second to Castillo.
Even without taking into account the highly-regarded quartet of prospects Cashman gave up for Montas (and reliever Lou Trevino), there’s also a tangential link to Jordan Montgomery -- the solid lefty who’s pitched like an ace since the Yankees dealt him to the Cardinals on the same date for Harrison Bader, an injured centerfielder still wearing a rehab boot on his right foot.
Obviously, Montgomery was not traded for Montas, a point that Cashman made sure to emphasize when asked about the A’s import. But Montas did take the lefty’s spot in the rotation, more or less, and Montgomery has made that a regrettable decision every time he takes the mound for St. Louis.
Like, wish-you-had-a-do-over caliber of regret. On Monday, Montgomery threw a one-hitter to beat the Cubs, needing only 99 pitches for the complete game (doing it under 100 is referred to as a Maddux). A number of Yankees were glued to the clubhouse TVs after the 4-2 victory over the Mets, cheering on Montgomery -- a player favorite if not beloved by Cashman.
And it gets worse from a Yankees’ perspective. Montgomery is 4-0 with a 0.35 ERA through his four starts, including three walks and 24 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings. He also has a 0.623 WHIP, limiting opponents to a .149 batting average.
“There’s nothing to revisit because those decisions have been made,” Cashman said Monday. “I don’t link the two because they’re separate transactions. Clearly, we think highly of Montas, but we hadn’t been able to see that just yet.”
Cashman listed what he believed to be a few contributing factors. Montas missed nearly three weeks with a shoulder injury and had only two abbreviated starts for the A’s in the days leading up to the deadline. During that period, his mother-in-law passed away and Montas went on bereavement leave the day after the trade, delaying his transition to the Bronx.
Adjusting to life in New York, both on and off the field, can be difficult under the best of conditions. But it turned out to be especially challenging for Montas, and the tough Bronx reception since his arrival -- a product of his lackluster performance -- is the latest hurdle that needs to be overcome.
“That’s part of sometimes playing here,” manager Aaron Boone said before Tuesday’s game. “That’s another layer that you’ve got to deal with and be able to get through and hopefully something that when you do, serves you well.”
Montas isn’t quite through it yet. But he didn’t get booed this time, so that’s progress.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
