Yankees’ Frankie Montas trade looks even worse after injury update

The New York Yankees were supposed to go into the 2023 season with one of the strongest rotations in baseball, as Gerrit Cole and new signing Carlos Rodon are as deadly of a 1-2 punch as you’ll find in the American League. Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino are going to eat up innings, and Frankie Montas will try to get back on track as the No. 5 starter.

Montas was an effective pitcher with the Oakland Athletics, but the hard-throwing right-hander was lit up in his few appearances with the Yankees after being traded. Considering that pitching prospects like JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk were traded in that swap, Brian Cashman isn’t looking too hot as a result.

2023 was supposed to be a new beginning for Montas, as he was supposed to be recovered from shoulder problems that made it difficult for him to get into a groove. Unfortunately, because the Yankees can’t seem to go two weeks without some nonsense happening, those plans have been upended.

According to the New York Post, Montas will miss the first month of the season due to inflammation in his shoulder. The Yankees have enough rotation depth to sustain this loss, but the Montas trade looks like it’s going the way of Sonny Gray and Ed Whitson.

Yankees SP Frankie Montas is out for one month.

Montas had recorded a 3.70 ERA in six years with the Athletics, posting a robust 3.28 ERA at his home park (which has more foul ground than any other stadium in the league). His performance with the Yankees suggests that he is a product of playing in a pitcher-friendly environment.

Montas amassed a 6.35 ERA in eight starts with the Yankees, allowing four or more earned runs in five of those games. While his fastball velocity was still impressive, he wasn’t going a good job of dodging bats, as he allowed more than one base hit per inning.

The most likely candidate to fill that fifth starter spot is Clarke Schmidt, who is a starter that was shoehorned in as a long relief pitcher last season. While Schmidt remains a hot trade target in the eyes of some, he might not be able to move now that his services will be requested.

Cashman and the Yankees are accruing a very unsavory list of poor trades that have done nothing but sabotage the team’s rotation depth, and Montas is on the verge of becoming one of the most lopsided in recent memory due to his failing health.

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