Frankie Montas entered A’s training camp in regular-season form. A claim made by several teammates and coaches over the past week or so reeks of exaggeration, considering his arm stamina isn’t ready for a complete game or even a quality start.
The 27-year old right-hander is, however, well ahead of the curve. He never stopped training during baseball’s shutdown over the coronavirus pandemic, which was evident in his first pitch of live batting practice.
Shortstop Marcus Semien stepped to the plate and saw Montas’ first offering went by in a 98-mph blur. It looked like an offering he posted on Twitter that hit triple digits.
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“We’ve been seeing that on social media, but 98 out of the chute to your own teammates is quite something,” A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson said. “Some of these guys want to be king of the clubhouse. They came in ready. It was encouraging to see how well Frankie came into this. His [velocity] has been really good.”
Most everything coming out of Montas’ hand has been good this summer. Manager Bob Melvin described his last outing as “borderline electric.”
All signs point to Montas getting the nod on Opening Day against the Los Angeles Angels, a sign that he’ll lead an excellent A’s starting rotation. That’s ultimately unofficial at this point, but Montas certainly is worthy of the distinction.
It’s a sign that he’s found last year’s first-half form, where he was 9-2 with a 2.70 ERA and 97 strikeouts to 21 walks over 90 innings before getting suspended for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
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[RELATED: Why A's starter Frankie Montas never stopped training during pandemic]
He worked hard at the A’s spring training complex during his 80-game suspension, all for the opportunity to make one last regular-season start. He aced that test and took the same approach to this spring’s shutdown.
There’s always some doubt about prior performance following a PED suspension, but Montas is proving he’s capable of operating an ace level. If he can perform to his potential in 2020, there’s no reason to think he can’t be one of the American League’s best pitchers.
And, yes, he could well be in contention for an A.L. Cy Young award in a shortened 60-game season. He was awesome over 60 games last year. He was 8-2 with a 2.84 ERA over his first 60 games last year, which would have put him near the top of the league. If the A’s have success and he’s a big reason why, Montas will get votes even in what could be a crowded field.
New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole reportedly is ramped up and ready to go, with the talent to dominate if he comes strong out of the gate. His former teammate in Houston, Justin Verlander, always is a contender for the Astros. He won last season with a 21-6 record and a 2.58 ERA over 34 starts and 223 innings. Montas could’ve been close to the totals for wins and ERA if he would’ve sustained an excellent start, aided by the development and subsequent dominance of his splitter.
His first half was excellent and could’ve been honored as such.
“He had a good chance to not only be on the All-Star team but maybe start the All-Star Game the way he was pitching last year,” Melvin said. “Add him to an already talented staff and we’re in a good position with our starting group.”
Montas enters 2020 with another pitch, a slower slider with great arch that will give opponents something else to consider while accounting for a high-90s fastball, a high-80s biting slider and the split-finger fastball that just gets people out. Emerson says, however, that Montas has to pick his spots with this new pitch.
“Frankie proved that spilt was a good pitch for him, that the slider was a good pitch for him,” Emerson said. “And then it just made his fastball command look that much better. He always threw fastball strikes but, when the hitter didn’t think about a second and third pitch, it gave the hitter an advantage. Now the hitter has to think about a splitter and a slider and now maybe a slurve ball every now and then. Hopefully he realizes that isn’t one of his core weapons that he needs to, but any time you can disrupt timing, that’s good. You just have to be smart about when to use it.”