Frankie Montas has admitted that he wasn’t “100%” healthy when he was traded to the New York Yankees last year. It was in sharp contrast to the claim made by Yankees general manager Brian Cashman that Montas came to the team “with a clean bill of health.” After shoulder surgery, the pitcher is likely to miss a lot of games this season for the Bombers.
Following surgery on the labrum in his pitching shoulder last month, Frankie Montas is expected to miss at least the first half of this season. The right-hander told reporters on Wednesday that he tried to “push through” shoulder problems when he joined the Yankees from the Oakland Athletics on August 1 of last year.
“I was trying to push through,” MLB.com cited Frankie Montas telling reporters. “I got traded to a new team and wanted to show what I could do. Things didn’t go the way I was expecting.”
The New York Yankees acquired the righty starting pitcher last season. However, Frankie Montas went to the disabled list only after eight starts. He was diagnosed with the same shoulder irritation that had held him out earlier in the season.
Last season, Frankie Montas made eight starts for the Yankees and went 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA. He didn’t pitch after September 16 because his pitching shoulder was sore. When the trade with the A’s happened, Aaron Boone, the manager of the Yankees, said that New York was “comfortable with where his shoulder is at.”
Frankie Montas said on Wednesday that he will start throwing again in nine to ten weeks and that he will “for sure” pitch again in 2023. The Yankees haven’t said exactly when the eight-year veteran will come back.
Montas told, “I was like eh-eh. I wasn’t fully 100 percent. I was trying to pitch through it. Of course, I got traded to a new team, I wanted to show what I can do. Things didn’t go the way I was expecting. But I’m here to try to help this team and go out there and show what I can really do when I’m healthy.”
In the best case, Frankie Montas could come back in August. He has been shut down for 12 weeks, and it will be another 9 or 10 weeks before he can start throwing again. After this season, Montas will be a free agent, but he said that he will “definitely be back this season.
“This was a thing I had to take care of,” Frankie Montas told. “I don’t have control of it. Of course, trust me, I’m one of the guys that want to be out there pitching right now and showing what I can do. But things didn’t work out that way, so just trying to rehab and come back so I can help with whatever they want me to do.”
Cashman earlier had claimed that Frankie Montas came to the team “with a clean bill of health,” but it turned out that he was not fully fit. Fans are angry over the wrong decision by the Yankees general manager.
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