Yankees' Frankie Montas Says He Was Injured When Traded; Had Feb. Shoulder Surgery

New York Yankees starting pitcher Frankie Montas told reporters Wednesday that he wasn't fully healthy when the Oakland Athletics dealt him to the Bronx Bombers just before last year's trade deadline.

Montas is out for the foreseeable future after undergoing right labrum cleanup surgery in February. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com provided more details on Feb. 22:

Montas, who turns 30 years old on March 21, posted a 3.18 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 9.4 K/9 rate in 19 starts with the A's in 2022. In eight starts with the Yankees, Montas registered a 6.35 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 7.5 K/9 rate.

Clearly, Montas wasn't the same pitcher in New York that he was in Oakland. He had sub-four ERA in four of his last five years in Oakland, with the one outlier being a 5.60 ERA during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Montas notably went 13-9 with a 3.37 ERA in 2021 over 32 starts and finished sixth in the American League Cy Young voting.

The talent that led to the Yankees trading four prospects for Montas and reliever Lou Trivino is clearly present.

For now, though, the hope is that Montas returns back by the end of the 2023 season and contributes during the stretch run and perhaps the playoffs as well.

In the meantime, the Yankees' starting rotation should feature a quintet of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino and Domingo Germán.