When the Mets signed Frankie Montas to a two-year, $34 million contract to start their offseason this past winter, there were many roads of possibility for the veteran pitcher. Unfortunately for Montas and the Mets, it has gone about as badly as possible so far in year one. Montas missed the first three months of the season due to injury. He pitched so poorly in his rehab outings that Carlos Mendoza had to field questions about whether he was even a major league-caliber starter, and now, the team has its first true crisis point when it comes to what to do with him, taking into account his performance on a major league mound.
Frankie Montas (47)
Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Montas had his second consecutive blow-up start in the rubber game of a three-game weekend set against the Giants. The 32-year-old gave up seven runs in four innings, including a three-run home run to Rafael Devers, helping San Francisco put the game and the series out of reach.
His fastball looked good on the radar gun, with his four-seamer averaging 95.6 mph. Unfortunately, the more telling stat was the speed of the ball coming back at him. Of those 26 pitches, Giants hitters swung at half of them, only whiffing once, and the average exit velocity was exactly 100 mph.
Mendoza spoke postgame about what caused the difficult afternoon, and his answer ran the gamut.
“He (didn’t) get swing and misses, pitch selection, location,” Mendoza said, “I mean that pitch to Devers was right down the middle.”
Montas gave some more credit to his opponent and brought up bad luck as a factor.
“It was definitely a tough day for me. I feel like I made some good pitches but just went through the (infield),” Montas said, “They have a really good hitting lineup, I missed a couple spots… on Devers, you know he’s a great hitter and he put a good swing on it.”
The Mets have been looking for some more length out of their starters, but at this point, will just trade the quantity for more quality outings. Their trade deadline moves left the bullpen with seven of eight spots secured by late-inning relievers. Austin Warren, the final reliever, pitched the next four innings of the game to spare those other pitchers and will surely be replaced on the active roster as a result.
With the bullpen built this way, it leaves a very difficult decision for Mendoza, David Stearns, and the rest of the Mets brass. Fans are clamoring for one or both of Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat to make their big league debuts in the rotation. Paul Blackburn is also scheduled to come off the injured list in the near future. With just one free bullpen spot to play with as of now, it remains to be seen what will happen with the struggling members of the Mets’ rotation.
Mendoza was asked postgame if Montas’s role is now up for discussion, and the Mets manager was non-committal.
“I mean, we just got done with a game here. He’s got to be better. He knows that,” Mendoza said.
Both Montas and the Mets know that if he does not pitch better, he will be relegated to that final bullpen spot, or perhaps even designated for assignment, an abrupt ending to that two-year commitment no one could have foreseen in December.
