For the past couple of seasons, starting pitcher Frankie Montas has been trying to establish himself as a dominant starter. Last season, Montas missed most of the regular season for the New York Yankees, only making one appearance on the mound on September 30th. He would miss the first month of the season with right shoulder inflammation. A few weeks later it was announced that he required arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder, and would miss most of the year. It was just reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post that Frankie Montas has just signed a one-year, $16 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Now, Montas will look to refresh his career and make an immediate impact in Cincinnati.
Frankie Montas Goes to the Reds
Since Montas played in only one game during the 2023 season, we’ll talk about how he performed in 2022. Frankie Montas had the most strikeouts with his split-finger fastball in 2022, putting away 60 batters. While that pitch had a whiff percentage of nearly 36 percent, he only put 20 percent of batters away with that pitch. Batters still suffered against Frankie’s splitter, putting up a batting average of .177. His sinker was his most effective put-away pitch, getting batters out 23 percent of the time. If Montas can use these two pitches when there are two strikes in the count, there’s a good chance whoever’s up to bat will get out. Montas mastering these two pitches in 2024 could be huge for the Reds.
Montas 2022 Stats
With both the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees, Frankie Montas put up a 5-12 record in 27 starts during the 2022 season. In 144 innings pitched, he put up a 4.05 ERA and 142 strikeouts. On September 30th, Montas made his only appearance of 2023. Against the Kansas City Royals, he pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and a walk while having one strikeout. He would receive the win after the Yankees defeated the Royals 5-2. Montas’ best game of the 2022 season was on April 18th against the Baltimore Orioles. He pitched six innings allowing one run on two hits and a walk, while striking out five batters in a 5-1 A’s win.
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