Frankie Montas’ Yankees career may be over at worst, and at best, it seems he’s a late-season option if an option at all after the news he will undergo arthroscopic shoulder surgery next week to try to figure out what’s causing the inflammation in his shoulder that just won’t let him ramp up.
Aaron Boone opened his first press conference of spring with that news, and even with Montas’ absence going from “likely the first month” to possibly the whole year, the skipper feels good about his rotation.
“Excitement still. Losing Frankie is clearly a blow, and unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to see him pitch like the pitcher we know he is – but were very confident in those who might now get an opportunity because he’s not there, and the depth we’ve built up,” Boone said. “We feel good about the rotation we will potentially go north with at the end of next month.
Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt were named as the two guys who will most immediately benefit from Montas being down and maybe Nestor Cortes being compromised – although Boone thinks Nasty Nestor will be fine by opening day – but the skipper noted “there’s always people you bring in who will have more of an opportunity and get closer to breaking through.”
There may also be conversation about how to utilize Michael King, who is healthy after suffering an elbow injury last year and could be a multi-inning reliever a la Mariano Rivera 1996 at some point.
For now, though, it looks like German, who is out of options and posted a 3.61 ERA in 14 starts and one relief appearance last year, might be the favorite to break camp as the No. 5 starter.
Related
“I’m really excited about where Domingo is right now,” Boone said. “I feel like his work has been excellent, he’s in great shape, and I feel like his frame of mind is really good. I feel like he’s really matured over the last couple years, and even from last year to this spring so far. He understands where he’s at in his career and the opportunity in front of him right now, and he understands the importance and excitement of that. He’s in a pretty good spot right now for us, and it’s good to see.”
Great, but David Cone once said it best: you have five starters at a time, but these days, you need to be seven, eight, and nine deep to get through a season.
Last year, the Yankees used 11 different starters, but that number was bigger than its scope: Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, and Cortes combined for 93 starts up top, and if you count Montas and Jordan Montgomery, who was sent out at the trade deadline, as one linear spot, they added 29 for a total of 122. Luis Severino and German (19 and 14, respectively), added another 33 for 155, so it was really seven guys in five spots and then a handful of spot starts.
Those other seven starts went to Schmidt (3), JP Sears (2), Luis Gil (1), and Chi Gonzalez (1), but Gil, Sears, and Gonzalez all each made a start because of doubleheaders throwing off the rotation, and one of Schmidt’s came in an emergency when Severino went on the COVID list.
The Yankees have to hope for that again, but as we head into 2023, who are now those seventh, eighth, and ninth guys?
Related
“We’ll see. I don’t know. I don’t want to leave anyone out of that mix, but we do feel like we have a number of guys capable of stepping up in that role,” Boone said. “I feel good about the depth and quality of arms in that room, and we’ll let that play itself out.”
Right now, Jhony Brito, who was added to the 40-man roster last winter, might be the next man up, as he’s on the 40-man roster and has the combination of performance and Triple-A experience. Beyond him, it’s LHP Matt Krook (possibly destined to be a reliever) and RHPs Deivi Garcia (remember him?), Randy Vazquez (spent last year at Double-A), and Yoendrys Gomez (16.1 Double-A innings last year) on the 40-man roster, with RHPs Ryan Weber and Tanner Tully as the Chi Gonzalez/Chris Capuano memorial “bump and dump” veterans and guys like Mitch Spence (3.86 ERA in 10 AAA starts) and Sean Boyle (3.61 ERA in 47 1/3 AAA innings) as the guys who might “kick the door in.”
Those are the nine options in camp, but with pitchers and catchers now officially reported league-wide, there may be a few names that can be brought in on a minor-league deal with a chance to crack the rotation or maybe even be another AAA innings eater (which, given the depth charts, the Yankees don’t seem to need, but…) early in the year. That’s a pretty barren list though, as you’re looking at guys like Chris Archer or Dylan Bundy, who had options declined by the Twins after roughly league-average seasons, or a reclamation project like Garrett Richards or Jerad Eickhoff.
With the Yankees seemingly reticent to go over the third luxury tax tier, any outside additions will likely either be minimum-wage adds or as a result of a trade – perhaps, if Montas ends up missing the year, they can pull a Bronson Arroyo move and attach a prospect somewhere to dump his salary? – so it may be internal depth or bust.
Then again, if German can come back out of nowhere like Cortes did…
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Listen live to WFAN via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker
Follow WFAN on Social Media:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch