Frankie Montas: Ace Of The Athletics?
May 21, 2019, 9:40 AM | Updated: May 23, 2019, 9:24 am
(Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
The 26 year-old from the Dominican Republic is seizing his opportunity in a big way
Coming into spring training, not many A’s fans expected Frankie Montas to make an impact in 2019.
After being acquired in 2016 from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Josh Reddick and starter Rich Hill, Montas found himself struggling in AAA Las Vegas. Montas pitched to a dissappointing 5.22 ERA in 2017, and sputtered in the big leagues after being called up to Oakland with a 7.03 ERA over 23 games. At the beginning, 2018 wasn’t very kind to Montas either. After posting a 4.65 ERA in AAA, Montas got the call once again to pack his bags for Oakland. Over 13 games and 11 starts in 2018, Montas posted a 3.88 ERA and went 5-4 to provide the Athletics with a pitching boost on the way to their first playoff berth in four years.
Clearly, a different Frankie Montas emerged in 2018, and this newfound success carried over into this seasons’ Spring Training. Montas went 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA over 16 innings while striking out 16 batters over the course of spring, proving that he deserved a spot on the Opening Day roster.
Since then, Montas has without a doubt been the most productive starter on the Athletics staff – one could even call him the ace of the staff. Montas has had an incredible start to the 2019 season, holding a 5-2 record with a 2.67 ERA, 1.13 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) and 52 strikeouts. Montas leads the Athletics in all of these categories.
Among the rest of baseball, Montas is climbing the ranks in several categories. His 2.67 ERA ranks 14th in all of baseball (8th in the American League) while his WHIP of 1.13 places him within the top-25 in all of Major League Baseball. His five wins also place him in a tie for the 12th-most wins in the league. With one more win, Montas will set a new career-high in wins with six. Not bad for a guy who was 6-7 with a 4.90 ERA over his first three seasons of Major League action.
Montas has been A’s most reliable starter thus far, and he will look to keep moving in the right direction when he takes the mound on Wednesday morning in Cleveland. In Montas’ last start against the Detroit Tigers, he hurled 8.2 innings of two-run ball and struck out a career-high 10 batters.
Catch all of the action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK with first pitch for today’s game coming at 3:10pm PT!
Tomorrow, Frankie Montas will look for another win against the Indians at 10:10am PT. Take a look at his last outing:
