a day ago
Frankie Montas' big-league role in doubt after another rough rehab start
NEW YORK — After another poor rehab start on Friday night, there's a chance that Frankie Montas' return to the New York Mets happens as a reliever.
Starting for Triple-A Syracuse on Friday, Montas was lit up by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Montas allowed eight runs on seven hits and a walk while recording only five outs. In a seven-run second inning, Montas gave up a home run, three doubles and two singles.
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The goal had been for Montas to pitch into the fifth inning. Instead, it was his second straight rehab start where he's gone backwards in innings.
Friday's start only furthered concerns about Montas' performance during this rehab stint. He entered the night having allowed 12 earned runs in 12 innings across four starts. His rehab ERA is now 13.17 — barely lower than the Mets' five big-league starters combined, entering Friday (13.89). Montas has allowed 32 baserunners in 13 2/3 innings.
Earlier in the day, president of baseball operations David Stearns said Montas would 'likely' need one more rehab start after Friday's. It's safe to say that additional start is required.
'This is kind of like spring training for him. Hitters now are in midseason form,' manager Carlos Mendoza said on Wednesday. 'It's hard to put too much into it when you're not game planning, you're just going out there, which, I think, we got to do a better job of that, of preparing him and giving him a little bit of an idea just on mechanics. But as far as results, we are not too concerned right now.'
The Mets have been working with Montas on a tweak to his delivery — a relatively minor one with how he rotates his body that they believe will fix most of what's hindered him during his rehab assignment. But that obviously hasn't happened yet, and the clock is literally ticking for Montas. His 30-day rehab clock runs out on June 22, after which he must either be placed on the major-league roster or consent to be taken off his rehab because of a physical setback.
If the Mets aren't confident that Montas represents an upgrade in the back end of their rotation — most likely over Paul Blackburn, who's filling in now for Kodai Senga — they could opt to use Montas out of the bullpen as a longman. That's the role Blackburn has been in over the past 10 days. New York's rotation entered Friday leading all of baseball with a 2.79 ERA.
