When the New York Yankees traded for starting pitcher Frankie Montas last year in exchange for four prospects, everyone in the league was applauding them and saying how they “robbed” the Oakland Athletics.
Time makes a lot of things change, though.
With time, Montas proved he was never 100 percent healthy during his Yankees tenure.
He said it himself in a recent interview.
He went on to have a 6.35 ERA with them and virtually disappeared in the postseason.
Now, he will be out for several months of the 2023 campaign (his last under the Yankees’ control) with his recurring shoulder issues.
Some are already writing him off as a monumental failure.
The pitcher himself, however, is determined not to let his Yankees tenure end on a sour note.
“Montas said that he ‘for sure’ expects to pitch for the #Yankees this season. No target date set yet. He will resume playing catch in about 9-10 weeks,” Yankees insider Bryan Hoch tweeted.
Montas said that he “for sure” expects to pitch for the #Yankees this season. No target date set yet. He will resume playing catch in about 9-10 weeks.
—Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 8, 2023
After playing catch, he will need to slowly graduate to flat ground, bullpens, live batting practice, and then go on a rehab assignment.
If he is lucky, he will be ready for the second half of August or September, but if he manages to return to 100 percent health by that time, he could get a chance to make things right and give the Yanks a legit star in the stretch run and the playoffs.
A healthy Montas is very much capable of posting an ERA in the low-3.00s with lots of strikeouts and grounders.
That’s the kind of profile that can have sustained success in a park like Yankee Stadium.
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