Diamondbacks' Jordan Montgomery Throws Backfield Session

Hopefully for Montgomery, his statements are true, and the left-hander is trending in the right direction. He began Spring Training with a delay to his throwing program, after an index finger strain held him out of the first portion of the Cactus League.

But in the southpaw's first taste of real game action this week, he only managed to record one out.

He allowed two hits, walked two batters, hit one with a pitch, and gave up a homer, leading to an eventual five earned runs. But while results in Spring Training are rarely looked at as signs of anything deeper, his stuff was the main concern.

Montgomery's fastball velocity struggled to reach 90 MPH. He sat in the 87-89 MPH range for most of his outing, down nearly 3 MPH from his 2024 season. His location was less than optimal, and his pitches didn't appear to have the shape that he's known for.

And that's exactly what Montgomery is trying to turn around in 2025. In the 2024 season, he pitched to a career-low 6.23 ERA over 21 starts, and was relegated to a long relief role as the year waned. Then came managing general partner Ken Kendrick's comments, where he cited the Montgomery signing as a "mistake."

But Montgomery wasn't focused on that, and came to camp in much better shape than 2024. He had slimmed down 25 pounds, and his demeanor was more positive, and hungry to prove his ability.

Manager Torey Lovullo has already faced plenty of tough questions about Montgomery. The manager maintains that Montgomery's raw results aren't something to zero in too hard on, but noted the intent to move the lefty to the backfields in his Tuesday press conference.

"With rain coming, with the ability to kind of manipulate a little bit and make sure that he gets that time, we just felt like it was super important that he gets on the mound and he continues his progression," Lovullo said.

The manager had said that Montgomery had "identified" some things to work on, and that a backfields session would allow for less pressure, and more ability to adjust and manipulate one's stuff and approach.

If Montgomery does feel optimistic about his backfield session, and his injury is no longer plaguing him, he'll figure to battle for the fifth starting slot in the rotation, going up against right-handers Ryne Nelson and Brandon Pfaadt.

Hopefully for both Montgomery and the D-backs, an isolated session — away from the threat of opposing hitters desperately trying to make their own roster — might be what the veteran needs to get ready to fully ramp up to 2025 and pitch to better results.

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