Grade: B+
Although
Jordan Montgomery didn’t join the Yankees starting rotation until the team’s
eighth game of the season on April 12th, the young lefty has quickly
established himself as one of the top young pitchers in the American League
this season. After beating out Bryan
Mitchell, Luis Cessa and Chad Green for the fifth spot in the starting
rotation, Montgomery has been nothing but solid to start his big league career.
The young man they call Gumby has been perhaps – aside from Luis Severino – the
Yankees’ best starting pitcher all season.
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| Photo Credit: Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images |
First Half Performance:
Through
his first 15 career starts, Montgomery has pitched to a 6-4 record with a
steady 3.63 ERA over 87.0 innings pitched.
While he struggled with his control earlier in the season, his WHIP has
steadily dropped over the last month and currently sits at 1.207. Montgomery has also struck out 83 batters, or
roughly one per every inning pitched. He
does not have overpowering stuff, but his high arm slot and good secondary
pitches have been enough to keep hitters off-balanced all season and he has
given the Yankees a chance to win in virtually every one of his starts.
Here's a GIF of him making Evan Longoria look absolutely foolish with his slider:
Expectations for Second
Half:
Montgomery
finished June with a strong 2.59 ERA and 1.05 WHIP during the month, so it
doesn’t appear he is showing any signs of slowing down. He has pitched enough that teams should have
a good enough scouting report on him, but it doesn’t look like hitters have fully
figured him out, which should allow Monty to maintain his success over the
course of the entire season. Montgomery
allowed five home runs in June, his most for a single month this season, but he
also posted a career best .216 BAA during the month, so perhaps the spike in
home runs is just a bit of bad luck.
Assuming he can continue to locate his pitches well and use his off-speed
stuff effectively, Montgomery will continue to play a big role on a pitching
staff looking to push New York towards a playoff berth.
Conclusion:
While it's perhaps foolish to expect Montgomery to pitch at an ace-like level this
season, he has the stuff to succeed in the major leagues and should continue to pitch well enough
for the Yankees to win in his starts every time he takes the ball. Montgomery
has received a lot of praise and comparisons to Andy Pettitte, and if he can
become even half the pitcher Pettitte was for New York in his career, the
Yankees will be in very good shape for years to come.
Article by: Andrew Natalizio
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