Frankie Montas’s first full season with the Yankees won’t be smooth. The New York Post has cited sources to reveal that Montas is eight to ten weeks behind in his off-season training and shoulder inflammation is set to force him to miss the first month of the 2023 regular season.
Frankie Montas had his shoulder problem resurfaced at the end of last year causing him to miss out on the last leg of the 2022 season and he will start 20233 with a lot of the same problems. The right-handed pitcher continues to deal with inflammation in his shoulder.
Friday, the Yankees and Frankie Montas came to an agreement on a deal worth $7.5 million. If there hadn’t been concerns about his shoulder, the deal might have been worth more.
Last season, the 29-year-old pitcher missed two weeks with the Oakland team because he had to miss a July 3 start. Then, on September 20, Frankie Montas was put on the 15-day disabled list by the Yankees after eight mostly bad starts, including his last one in Milwaukee, where an MRI also showed inflammation in his shoulder.
After missing out on Luis Castillo, who was traded from the Reds to the Mariners and has since signed a huge contract to stay in Seattle, the Yankees got Frankie Montas at the trade deadline in 2022. He was the best pitcher they got.
In exchange for Frankie Montas and reliever Lou Trivino, the Yankees gave up left-handed pitchers JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk, as well as a right-handed pitcher from the minor leagues named Luis Medina and an infielder from the minor leagues’ named Cooper Bowman.
Last season, Trivino pitched well for the Yankees out of the bullpen. He avoided arbitration by signing a $4.1 million deal earlier in the offseason. However, Frankie Montas’ New York sojourn was interspersed with trouble from the start.
In 39 2/3 innings of work for the Yankees during the regular season, Frankie Montas had an ERA of 6.35. He came back to pitch in Game 1 of the ALCS from the bullpen. In his one inning of work, he gave up a home run and didn’t throw another ball.
The Yankees hope that Frankie Montas will be an important part of a strong rotation that also includes Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, and Luis Severino. This offseason, they also added Carlos Rodon to the group. Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt will give the Yankees more depth, which they might need sooner than they wanted if Montas is out for a long time.
Frankie Montas turned worse after the trade
Shoulder inflammation was the problem, and it caused Frankie Montas to miss time at the end of last season. He was already dealing with it when the Yankees got him right before the July trade deadline. He missed the last two weeks of the season because of the same problem. It looks like it will now last into the 2023 season.
Last season, Frankie Montas, pitched for both the A’s and the Yankees and had a record of 5-12 with a 4.05 ERA (94 ERA+), a 1.25 WHIP, and 142 strikeouts in 144 1/3 innings. After the trade, he got worse. With the A’s, he had an ERA of 3.18, but with the Yankees, it was 6.35.
Frankie came sixth during the 2021 poll to choose the AL Cy Young player in 2021. The Yankees were hopeful of getting a lot from a starting pitcher with an ERA of 3.37 ERA and 207 strikeouts. However, the injury to his shoulder makes it hard to expect.
After the 2023 season, Frankie Montas will be a free agent.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
