Inside The Mets

New York Mets waste Frankie Montas' strong debut

Frankie Montas was the lone bright spot for the Mets on Tuesday.
Logan VanDine|
Jun 24, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Frankie Montas (47) pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Jun 24, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Frankie Montas (47) pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

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On a night when the New York Mets let a 3-0 lead get away from them in their 7-4 loss against the Atlanta Braves, which resulted in them dropping their tenth game out of their last 11, there was a bright spot.

Frankie Montas made his much-anticipated Mets debut against the Braves on Tuesday, seemingly exceeding expectations. The righty tossed five scoreless innings against Atlanta, striking out five on three hits while issuing three walks on 80 pitches.

New York signed Montas to a two-year, $34 million deal during the offseason with an opt-out after this season and was forced to miss the first three months of the season after suffering a high-grade lat strain during spring training.

Read More: What to expect from Frankie Montas in his Mets debut

The Mets could not have asked for a much better start from Montas after struggling mightily during his rehab starts, posting a 12.05 ERA in those six outings. Even though New York's bullpen gave up seven runs after Montas exited in the sixth inning, this start was certainly a step in the right direction for the 32-year-old.

Despite the Mets' latest bullpen woes, which overshadowed Montas' strong Mets debut, manager Carlos Mendoza was certainly pleased by his performance.

"I thought he was good," Mendoza said. "I thought the ball was coming out well. A heavy sinker, 97, 98 [mph], attacked. I thought there were some cutters, some short sliders, they didn't chase his split[ter]. Overall, got groundballs there, threw strikes, he looked strong, he gave us a chance."

The Mets are hoping Montas can build off this encouraging start and be an essential piece to a Mets pitching staff that has struggled out of the rotation and bullpen during the team's recent woes.

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Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan VanDine is a contributing writer for On SI's Mets. Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work at On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports. Give him a follow on X: @VandineLogan

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