Opening Day Starter Montas Seems Long Shot to Pitch in Wild Card for Athletics
Frankie Montas looked so good in July that he won the A’s opening day starter spot.
With the American League playoffs just a week away, however, Montas is no longer atop the Oakland rotation rankings. And with his performance in Tuesday’s 7-2 loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles, the right-hander may well have pitched himself out of a start in the wild card round of the playoffs that begin next Tuesday.
Montas’ spot was in trouble already. Four games into the season he’d lived up to the billing, posting a 1.57 ERA. He missed a start with back and neck pain. And he hasn’t been the same since. In five starts since, he’d been 1-3 with a 10.80 ERA. Four times in those five start he’d allowed at least four earned runs.
Then came Tuesday and his return to the rotation after being on paternity leave for the birth of his daughter, Ellie. He was spotted to a 1-0 lead on Robbie Grossman’s first-inning homer off Dustin May. Two batters into the bottom of the first, however, the game was tied, and before Montas’ four innings were up, he’d given up three homers and a total of five runs.
Whatever the problem is, Montas said it doesn’t have anything to do with his back or any other discomfort.
“No man, I feel great,” Montas said after what he described a “one of those tough days.”
“My back feels good, my arm feels good. I’m just going through a tough time. It’s all about competing, about trying to get people out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case today for me.”
Montas noted that he’s got four days to figure things out; as things stand now he’d be the pitcher in the regular season finale Sunday. If he was going to pitch in the wild card round, he could be advanced a day to pitch in Saturday’s doubleheader, but that seems unlikely.
“He’s just not quite there with his mechanics,” manager Bob Melvin said of Montas. “He started out so strong, he was throwing the ball where he wanted to. He was getting ahead in the count. His split and his slider were really good.
“Right now, his split isn’t as good as it was before, and he’s centering his slider. It’s not a matter of stuff with him. It’s probably a little bit of confidence that he can’t get on a roll.”
Melvin said that Montas mistakes came against a team that crushes mistakes and said the Dodgers had Montas on the run early.
The A’s starters have mostly been on a nice roll, and that means Montas’ non-roll has all but eliminated him from the competition.
Sean Manaea, who pitches Wednesday’s second game of the Dodger Stadium series, and Mike Fiers, who goes Thursday, seem to be in line for postseason starts for a best-of-three series that will be contested at the Coliseum. Manaea is 4-1 in his last five starts with a 2.25 ERA. Fiers is 5-1 in his last six starts with a 3.41 ERA.
Chris Bassitt, who starts the series opener Friday against the Mariners in the Coliseum, is the hottest of the Oakland starters. He’s allowed just one run in his last three starts and is 3-0 with an 0.46 ERA in those games. He’d likely get one of the starts in the wild card series, although there will be some push to have rookie Jesus Luzardo get in there. He has thrown shutout ball in three of his nine starts, but his consistency has been all over the place, as his 33-2 record and 3.86 ERA might suggest.
Should the A’s get past the wild card round, the Division Series expands to best-of-five games, at which time Montas or Mike Minor might be called on to start, because there will be no off days. And the League Championship Series and World Series are both best-of seven.
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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