Jordan Montgomery isn’t in the Yankees’ starting rotation.
With Masahiro Tanaka shaking off an injury and Domingo German alienating himself with each passing day, the New York Yankees are almost desperate for a quality starting pitcher to emerge and solidify the back end of their rotation. While big lefty starter Jordan Montgomery has impressed so far in Summer Camp, the Yankees didn’t think he would be a good fit in their rotation.
The Yankees assigned Montgomery, who has become known as “Gumby” due to his slender, 6-foot-6 frame and elongated windup, to the alternate training site, which means he will not be on the MLB roster come Opening Day on Thursday.
The Yankees have optioned LHP Jordan Montgomery to the Alternate Training Site, signed LHP Luis Avilán, RHP David Hale and C Chris Iannetta to Major League contracts and selected them to the 40-man roster and placed RHP Dan Otero on the restricted list (cont'd)
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) July 21, 2020
Jordan Montgomery was pitching well this summer.
Montgomery, a former fourth-round pick, posted a 3.84 ERA in 35 starts with the team between the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Unfortunately, Tommy John Surgery ended his 2018 season early before limiting him to just four innings in 2020.
The demotion looks really surprising to anyone who watched the scrimmage between the Yankees and New York Mets. In that scrimmage, Montgomery pitched five solid innings against the Mets A-lineup, striking out six while allowing just two hits. How Matt Blake and Aaron Boone thought he wasn’t ready for the MLB rotation after a performance like that is nothing short of baffling.
The #Yankees pitching looked really good tonight.
— Bronx Bombers News (@NewsBronx) July 20, 2020
Jordan Montgomery:
5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO
Jonathan Loaisiga:
3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
Jonathan Holder:
1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
One could argue that not only was Montgomery solid over the summer, but he might have been the club’s best pitcher over the course of the last few weeks.
It comes off as a really puzzling move for a team that needs to answer questions about its pitching to bar one of their best young pitchers from making the roster, but the Yankees seem to think Montgomery isn’t ready for prime time. At the first sign of injury, Montgomery needs to be the first player they consider calling up to the big-league club.