When the Yankees acquired Frankie Montas on Aug. 1, a day earlier than the buying and selling deadline, the franchise and its followers celebrated.
The Reds had already dealt Luis Castillo to the Mariners — he has since signed a five-year extension with Seattle — so Montas, thought-about by many to be the second-best starter in the marketplace due to his work with the Oakland Athletics, grew to become a welcomed comfort prize.
“I do know he’s going to be a giant addition to the employees,” Supervisor Aaron Boone mentioned after the Yankees shipped a minor league infielder, Cooper Bowman, and the younger pitchers Ken Waldichuk, Luis Medina and J.P. Sears to Oakland.
However Montas’s Yankees profession instantly went sideways. He struggled over his first eight begins for the workforce earlier than touchdown on the 15-day injured checklist with a shoulder harm that had been bothering him when he was in Oakland. And now, with the Yankees a win away from clinching the American League East, there’s no assure that Montas, 29, might be counted on to make it again into the workforce’s rotation, not to mention be the frontline starter within the postseason that some had imagined.
“It’s in all probability getting to a degree the place it’s going to be robust as like a beginning, built-up choice,” Boone mentioned of Montas on Sunday. “That is likely to be a problem, however I believe there’s an opportunity that he can have a job and affect us.”
Boone alluded to a reduction function for Montas, who has recorded a 6.35 E.R.A. over his first 39⅔ innings for New York. He final pitched on Sept. 16, permitting 4 earned runs to the Milwaukee Brewers over three and a 3rd innings. An M.R.I. was taken, and Montas was positioned on the injured checklist on Sept. 20 (retroactive to Sept. 17) with proper shoulder irritation. He acquired a cortisone shot, and the Yankees had deliberate to close him down from throwing for at the very least 10 days.
On Sunday, Montas mentioned that he felt “higher” and that he hoped to start out “taking part in catch very quickly.” Boone mentioned Monday that he anticipated Montas to start out throwing this week. After being positioned on the I.L., Montas had expressed optimism about contributing to the Yankees’ postseason efforts.
“I nonetheless wish to return and attempt to assist the workforce within the playoffs,” he informed reporters. “You recognize, every time I can.”
However with lower than two weeks left within the common season, Montas received’t be capable of tackle a starter’s full workload. Even when he may, it’s not essentially clear the Yankees would have a spot for him.
New York definitely didn’t think about this when the workforce traded for the right-hander. Montas had a 3.18 E.R.A. over 19 begins for the Athletics this season, and had a 3.37 mark with Oakland in 2021. However a shoulder harm in July, which Boone had known as a “hiccup,” could have been a much bigger challenge than anybody realized. Montas was nonetheless rebuilding arm energy on the time of the commerce, and his newest I.L. stint led him to concede that he “in all probability rushed” his summer time return.
Montas, nonetheless, blamed his stuff — not his shoulder — for his issues in pinstripes.
“I’ve had video games the place I haven’t actually been commanding my fastball or my secondary pitches,” Montas said after his final begin. “However I really feel like slightly little bit of luck, it’s not likely on my facet, however I hold going on the market and making an attempt to do my greatest.”
Happily for the Yankees, Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino and Jameson Taillon provide the workforce 4 strong starters for the postseason, although Severino remains to be build up after his personal prolonged I.L. stint. He pitched Monday in Toronto, permitting two earned runs over 4 innings in a 3-2, 10-inning loss.
Even with that defeat, the Yankees are just one win away from locking up a division title and a first-round bye within the playoffs, with a number of gamers having lately returned from the I.L. so as to add some wanted depth. It’s an enviable place, however Montas isn’t the workforce’s solely query mark.
With 9 video games remaining within the common season, Aaron Hicks’s standing is unsure at greatest. The outfielder has loved a relative stretch of success, going 7 for 18 with two residence runs over his final six video games. However that may’t make up for a season of struggles, which prompted the Yankees to commerce for heart fielder Harrison Bader.
With Andrew Benintendi nonetheless working his approach again from a damaged hamate bone in his hand, the Yankees’ most well-liked left fielder seems to be the rookie Oswaldo Cabrera. And if Matt Carpenter is ready to return from a damaged foot, that will restrict Hicks’s alternatives even additional.
After which there may be the Yankees’ bullpen, which has loads of proficient arms however no clear-cut nearer. The prospect of Aroldis Chapman, the workforce’s longtime finisher, getting a postseason roster spot has been a subject of dialog after The New York Publish reported the group had thought-about designating the left-handed reliever for project.
Chapman, an impending free agent, has been unreliable, recording a 4.36 E.R.A. over 33 innings. He misplaced his closing job to Clay Holmes earlier this season, although Holmes, an All-Star, has since had his personal tough stretches. The fluidity has led to the Yankees utilizing 11 completely different relievers to report saves this season.
On Sunday, Boone was requested, level clean, if he may belief Chapman in high-leverage conditions.
“Nicely, we’ll see,” Boone mentioned. “Proper now, I’m utilizing him extra in low- and medium-leverage conditions.
“Bodily, I really feel prefer it’s nonetheless there. The stuff is there. He’s proven flashes of it all through the season and even within the second half of the season. So we’ve acquired to proceed to take advantage of out of each alternative, after which we’ll make that decision.”