Have the Mets found the source of Frankie Montas' struggles?

In regards to the splitter, Montas threw it nine times but Braves batters laid off all but one offering. This didn't stop the righty from tossing five scoreless innings and punching out five, but it may explain the three walks, especially since Montas has leaned heavily on his splitter as a strikeout pitch. The splitter has regularly generated whiff rates over 40% since it was introduced in his arsenal in 2019.

“I’m not going to say exactly what I was doing,” Montas told Martino. “But I was tipping the split. We got it cleaned up.”

As for the sweeper, Montas began throwing it last year alongside his regular slider. During his start in Pittsburgh, when he gave up five runs in the first inning, Pirates runners on second base were picking up on tells that showed the intent to throw a breaking ball; they promptly signaled this to the batter, giving them the advantage in the at-bat.

Just like his previous splitter tipping, Montas believes that those accidental clues to batters are gone with the breaking balls.

“A hundred percent I was tipping it,” Montas said. “We’re good. We’re definitely trying to clean it up.”

Tipping pitches wasn't the only problem with Montas on Sunday, as manager Carlos Mendoza noticed that the veteran's pitch sequencing was sub-optimal, which (along with the tipping) made it difficult to put hitters away. Montas himself also admitted that he was missing his spots during that disastrous first inning.

But eliminating these tells will go a long way towards building Montas back into the ace-caliber pitcher he was with the Athletics earlier in the decade. The righty's other pitches, particularly his four-seam fastball and sinker, have boasted both high velocity and movement so far, and will become even deadlier when used in conjunction with his signature splitter and still-developing sweeper.

Given the Mets' starting pitching woes lately, they need Montas to perform at the best of his ability. And by removing these tells, the veteran will move a step closer towards that peak performance.