Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports
The Mets are bringing back Mike Montgomery on a minor-league deal, according to Robert Murray.
The 32-year-old lefthander spent spring training with the Mets last season but was released at the end. He signed as a free agent with the Yankees a week later and was released by them at the end of May, never appearing at the major league level. He spent the rest of the season in Korea as a member of the Samsung Lions.
Montgomery is a six-year veteran and has spent time with the Mariners, Royals, and Cubs organizations. His most notable moment was recording the final out in the 2016 Cubs World Series victory.
It’s been a quick fall from grace for Montgomery. In his second season at 26, he had a 2.52 ERA working as both a starter and reliever. He followed it up with two more seasons working both out of the pen and in starts for the Cubs, having a 3.38 and 3.99 ERA.
Montgomery was traded by the Cubs in 2-19 to Kansas City for Martin Maldonado and remained there through the 2020 season. He only pitched five and a third innings in 2020.
In four starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Montgomery had a 7.56 ERA. He wasn’t much better overseas with a 5.71 ERA in the KBO across 11 starts and 52 innings.
The lone bright spot on Montgomery’s recent resume is that he’s a left-handed pitcher the Mets are in dire need of. It’s possible Montgomery gets released at the end of spring training just like last year. He’d likely only get the call-up in case of emergency.
Montgomery pitched in four spring training games for the Mets last season. He made one start and totaled 7.1 inning s overall, allowing 10 hits, five earned runs, and striking out nine batters.
