Yankees Show Flaws and Get a First Look at Frankie Montas

“We didn’t want him to be out on his own for four or five days and then come and start, so Sam went, kind of got eyes on him, talked through what the expectations were, and gave us a download of what he does in his routine and everything,” Blake said.

Boone added: “We got about as good a week as you can considering the circumstances.”

Ahead of the trade deadline, the Yankees added the All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi, a left-handed contact hitter who helps further balance the lineup and weather the absence of Giancarlo Stanton (left Achilles’ tendinitis) and the struggles of Aaron Hicks (.226 batting average); the right-handed reliever Scott Effross, who wracks up strikeouts throwing sidearm; Trivino; and Montas.

Montas, 29, fortifies a rotation that has dealt with some struggles (Domingo German has a 5.09 E.R.A. in four starts since his return from a shoulder injury) and that will be without Luis Severino (right latissimus dorsi strain) until mid-September.

But the Yankees also subtracted from their rotation, surprisingly sending the 29-year-old left-hander Jordan Montgomery — who was drafted by the Yankees in 2014, had been pitching solidly (3.69 E.R.A.) and was under team control next year — to the Cardinals for Harrison Bader, a 2021 Gold Glove-winning center fielder who is on the injured list until perhaps September. Although Bader was hitting .256 this season and has been out since late June with plantar fasciitis, he can help shore up the Yankees’ weakest defensive outfield position.

(Calling it emotional and weird to face his former teammates so suddenly, Montgomery tossed five scoreless innings against the Yankees in a 1-0 win Saturday.)

Although the baseball industry saw Montas as an upgrade over Montgomery, General Manager Brian Cashman recently said he did not acquire Montas to then dispatch Montgomery. He said trading for Montas, who will be a free agent after the 2023 season, and swapping Montgomery for Bader were all done with the goal of “how can we best be flying high with the best of our abilities when it counts the most in October and what gives us the most amount of quality choices.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/07/sports/baseball/yankees-cardinals-frankie-montas.html