The Yankees got some good news regarding Frankie Montas and his shoulder injury. What was initially expected to be a season-ending injury now has a light at the end of the tunnel. Montas’ surgery went well, and according to Brendan Kuty, he could be back for the late-season push.
Kuty paraphrased Boone and stated, “Frankie Montas had surgery. It went as expected, Boone says. Won’t throw for 12 weeks. Could return this season.”
Brendan Kuty of The Athletic
The Yankees didn’t get to see the best of Frankie Montas:
If the Yankees can get Montas back healthy and ready to roll for the last two months or so of the season, that would be huge for the team. Though his Yankee tenure hasn’t been anything to write home about, that could all change if he comes back and deals for the back half of the year. Montas has the stuff to be a great pitcher, he just hasn’t had a chance to showcase what he’s really made of.
It sucks whenever there’s a long-term injury, as it’s not the player’s fault. Montas should be able to use these next few months and heal up fully, thus allowing him to come back stronger and better than ever. Montas was the undisputed ace of the A’s staff before coming over to the Bronx, and if we can get that old version back, it would be a huge late-season acquisition for the Yanks.
He’s lethal when on, and over 104.2 innings with the Athletics, he posted a 3.18 ERA with a 3.35 FIP. He struck out 9.37 batters per nine and only walked 2.41. When he came over to New York, both those numbers got worse — 7.49 K/9 and a 3.40 BB/9. The huge step backward he took indicates he wasn’t healthy when he was tossing for the Yanks, and if he’s healthy, he can be on a whole new wavelength.
Having Montas ready to rock, with the rest of the elite rotation stacked the way it is, could see the Yankees end the year with the best pitching staff in baseball. Though they likely won’t run a 5-man rotation in the postseason, it’s certainly not ruled out if everyone is on their A-game.
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