Frankie Montas‘ tenure with the New York Yankees isn’t off to the best of starts.
He has pitched three games since joining the team from the Oakland Athletics at the deadline, and has a 9.00 ERA in 14 frames.
That’s obviously not ideal, but things should be better as long as he is healthy.
He had a scare with his shoulder in July, and recently had a family issue to deal with, but he is 100 percent healthy by all accounts.
If that’s the case, he is too good to keep struggling like this.
“I want to go out there and do my best. This is not my best. I haven’t done my best” – Frankie Montas,” SNY Yankees tweeted.
"I want to go out there and do my best. This is not my best. I haven't done my best"
– Frankie Montas pic.twitter.com/En03QFXIZN
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) August 19, 2022
Montas’ best, actually, came in 2019, with a 2.63 ERA in the first half.
That was the year he was suspended for banned substances.
Montas Is Much Better Than A 9.00 ERA Pitcher
However, after a rocky 2020 season, he posted a 3.37 ERA in 2021 and was at 3.18 when the Yanks acquired him on deadline day.
He likely isn’t the sub-3.00 ERA hurler he was in 2019, but if the last two seasons have shown us anything, is that he can be a low-3.00s ERA guy with groundballs, strikeouts, and good command.
That’s the recipe to succeed in Yankee Stadium and against the tough rivals in the AL East division.
Three starts aren’t enough to declare that Montas has been a bust with New York.
Lots of players have failed to quickly adjust to new surroundings, but once they settle in, they start taking off and their performance improves.
This could very well be the case with Montas, who is too good to have a 9.00 ERA over a larger sample size.
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