Before throwing his first pitch at the Stadium, Frankie Montas stood on the mound and took a deep breath that stretched the inside of his lungs. The Yankees got the right-hander from the A’s at the trade deadline. He had already started two games for the Yankees, but this was his chance to meet New Yorkers, who were getting more and more frustrated with the Bombers.
Montas’ struggles against the Blue Jays may have been due to nerves. He allowed six runs in six innings after the Yankees’ 8-7 win over Tampa Bay 24 hours earlier.
After Josh Donaldson’s walk-off grand slam, the Bombers promised a fresh start. Players mobbed at home plate, clubhouse music blared, it was like early summer when the Bombers won 70% of their games.
The Yankees were back and ready to unveil Montas as a championship piece. At the deadline, nobody believed it. Cashman wanted Reds star Luis Castillo. Montas was the Mariners’ consolation prize for Castillo.
The Yankees’ rotation was complete with Montas’ high-90s fastball and killer splitter.
The Yankees are headed nowhere fast. They’ll make the playoffs, but the same questions have dogged them all month.
Where did that killing instinct go? Why is Aaron Boone unable to wake up the sleeping lineup? What’s up with Montas?
So far, he’s made three starts, and only one, against Boston, has been good. What the Yankees saw in those five innings was a pitcher who allowed two runs. Social media has been buzzing about the other two as well.
In his first Yankee appearance, Montas allowed six runs in three innings. On Thursday against the Blue Jays, he buried the Bombers by allowing five runs.
Montas hasn’t said much since leaving Oakland besides “I wasn’t making my pitches.” The sample size is small, and he’ll get more chances. After six seasons with the A’s, being dropped into a pennant race is culture shock.
Billy Beane assured Cashman that Montas was a trustworthy warrior. Cashman didn’t doubt Beane, his industry best friend. Montas was the perfect complement to Gerrit Cole in October thanks to his rising four-seam fastball and hard-sinking splitter.
The A’s mediocrity has cost Montas. Only two postseason games in 2020. Montas was smoked by the Astros in the Division Series after allowing five runs, including two home runs, in two innings against the White Sox in the wild-card game.
Yankees say they’re unconcerned about Montas’ October record. He doesn’t have to start Game 1 or Game 7; Cole does. In theory, the Bombers’ offense can give their pitchers breathing room every time they pitch.
Nonetheless, that has not been the case recently. Only three runs have been scored in Boone’s 41 innings at the helm of the Yankees, and the team keeps losing. Since the All-Star break, the Bombers are 9-19, and in the month of July they went 4-13.
Thus, Montas isn’t the only problem. With seven weeks left in the season, Boone can revive the Yankees. The homestand could turn ugly if the offense is silent this weekend.
The Mets are coming to the Bronx on Monday with Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.
No one wants Montas to face deGrom on Tuesday. A lot will depend on how the newest Yankee performs under pressure in this market, and whether or not he turns out to be another Sonny Gray despite his talent.
Boone went out of his way to say that Montas “threw the ball really well at times” against Toronto. Technically, this is true. The Yankees were already behind by five runs, so Montas was able to throw a couple of scoreless frames.
That finally got Boone to tell the truth.
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