Veteran Frankie Montas has yet to pitch in a game for the Mets after suffering a lat injury during his first bullpen session of spring training, but as he gets closer to a return to the majors, the right-hander is looking forward to contributing to the team’s early season success.
“I want to help man, I want to help,” Montas said. “I think that’s the biggest thing for me. That’s what’s killing me, not being able to help. Obviously the team is pretty good. I’m the type of guy, I like to do my part and I like to feel part of the win for sure.”
The 32-year-old signed a two-year deal with New York in the offseason, but didn’t play in any spring training games due to the lat injury. He has made five rehab starts in the minors, most recently lasting just 1.2 innings for Triple-A Syracuse on Friday, as his ERA has ballooned to 15.43 over three Triple-A games.
Montas told reporters that he isn’t too much concerned about the results of his rehab games and is feeling much stronger throwing the ball.
“I think for me it’s how I feel,” Montas said. “Like I said, this rehab process was actually pretty good. They did an amazing job on my lat. This is probably, I’ll say the strongest my shoulder and arm has felt in a while.”
He added: “Definitely would’ve liked to get more pitches in yesterday, that was the plan. I feel like the plan is just trying to get to the pitch count before coming back to the big leagues.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed Saturday that Montas will have one more rehab outing before making a decision on his future.
“Talking to Hef [Jeremy Hefner], talking to Dickie Scott, obviously we haven’t seen the results, but physically he continues to say he’s fine,” Mendoza said. “I haven’t talked to him, I saw him from the distance today so I’ll get back with him. But he’s going to get one more in Triple-A and then we’ll have a decision after that.”
As for the role Montas returns to the Mets in following Kodai Senga‘s injury, either as a starter or a reliever, Mendoza said the team hasn’t “made that decision yet.” The manager then made it clear there isn’t a concern about Montas’ results during the minor league rehab games, adding that the goal is for him to reach the 75-80-pitch mark in his next start after throwing just 53 pitches on Friday.
“I wouldn’t say concern, because physically he says he’s fine,” Mendoza said. “If there was something physically wrong, then you would say, ‘OK, there’s some concern there.’ It’s more mechanics and things like that. As he continues to get reps, we’re hoping that we start seeing better results.
“As far as physically and all that, he’s in a good place. We will continue to work with him and get him back on track.”
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