The A’s aren’t the only team closely monitoring ace right-hander Frankie Montas’ recovery after taking a batted ball off his throwing hand during his last start.
Montas reportedly is back on several teams’ trade radars – if he ever really came off since spring training. The biggest interest appears to be from the New York Mets, who have been without Jacob DeGrom since the start of the season and recently lost co-ace Max Scherzer to a strained oblique.
The Cardinals, Rays and White Sox also have been linked to Montas, whose trade undoubtedly would bring back more significant pieces for the organizational overhaul the A’s began in the offseason. There is no reason to think the Yankees, Dodgers and Giants, among others, could be potential suitors, too.
The trade deadline is 11 weeks away, but something could easily materialize sooner, especially as injuries have begun to eat away at the rotation depth of several playoff contenders. The Mets sent scouts to watch recent starts by Montas and the Reds’ Tyler Mahle, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, and they are not alone.
But any potential deals figure to be in a holding pattern as the A’s open a three-game series in Seattle tonight because of questions about Montas’ right hand. He was struck on the index and middle fingers while blocking his face from a line drive Saturday against the Angels. X-rays did not reveal any structural damage. Montas came out of the game in Anaheim because he was unable to comfortably throw the baseball.
Montas told reporters following the game that his hand was “numb for a little bit” but was feeling “normal” a few hours after he was struck. He added, “Good thing there’s no broken bones.”
All indications are that Montas will make his next scheduled start, at home against the Rangers on Thursday. Manager Mark Kotsay told reporters in Seattle that Montas pitched a bullpen session before Monday’s game and there were no complications.
Potential trade partners certainly will be monitoring Montas’ progress.
Montas has a 3.55 ERA and is averaging nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings, and has been one of the most consistent starters in the American League the past two seasons. His record this season is just 2-4, but five of his nine starts have been quality starts – at least six innings and three or fewer runs. Montas also has been the victim of the A’s historically bad offense. The A’s have scored three or fewer runs in five of his starts and failed to score at all in three of those.
It is a bit of a surprise Montas is still with the A’s, but it’s a near certainty he’ll be gone in the coming weeks. He recently was voted the player most likely to be traded before the August 2 deadline in an anonymous poll of MLB executives by MLB.com.
Montas ended last season on a huge roll, going 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a WHIP under 1 in his final eight starts, and figured prominently in off-season trade rumors along with A’s stars Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt – who all did get traded. And there is good reason that Montas is an attractive trade target.
The 29-year-old had a breakout 2021 that saw him finish sixth in the AL Cy Young voting and he might just be scratching the surface of his potential. He’s also not eligible for free agency until after the 2023 season and is a relative bargain for a front-line starter, reaching a $5.025 deal with the A’s before the start of the season.
- One of the A’s hottest hitters has been 38-year-old Jed Lowrie, who made his MLB debut in 2008 — when center fielder Cristian Pache was just nine years old. Lowrie is 9-for-25 (.360) with five walks over his last eight games.
Oakland Athletics’ Cristian Pache (20), right, is congratulated by Jed Lowrie (8) after scoring on an RB- single by Sheldon Neuse against the Cleveland Guardians during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Friday, April 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn) - Other than the 14-4 clunker against the Twins at the Coliseum on Wednesday the A’s pitching has mostly done its part this season to keep the team in games. The A’s 3.78 ERA is ninth in the AL and their 13 quality starts are seventh in the league. But there is very little margin for error because of the team’s trouble scoring runs.
The A’s are 13-5 when they score four or more runs. They are 4-21 in all the other games. - Something has to give during this series with the Mariners. Both teams entered the three-game series 3-7 over their past 10 games and both have been shut out six times this season, which is tied for the most in the majors. The A’s were shut out a total of seven times last season.
- The A’s are in a stretch that runs from May 13 to June 1 where they are scheduled to play 17 of 20 games against teams from the AL West. During this stretch they’ll get their first looks of the season at the Mariners and the Astros.
- With September roster expansions limited to 28 (29 for doubleheaders) the Mariners’ record of 67 players used in a season set in 2019 seems pretty safe. But the A’s already have used 40 players, so it’s a development worth watching.
In part because of COVID-19 placements the A’s have used the injured list 17 times (eight were COVID-related moves) and 18 rookies have at one time or the other been on the roster. The franchise record for rookies used in a season is 21 set in 2008.
Source: www.mercurynews.com