Veteran lefty Jordan Montgomery has been bounced to the bullpen by Arizona after struggling all … [+] season as a starter. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Arizona’s strong bid to return to post-season play will come without Jordan Montgomery in the starting rotation.
The team’s top free-agent signee of 2024 has been such a bust that he’s been demoted to the bullpen – and might not even be added to the Diamondbacks’ postseason roster.
The 6’6″ left-hander was riding on his reputation as a postseason hero for the World Champion Texas Rangers when he signed with Arizona for $25 million. But he signed on March 29 – after spring training was over – and never found his footing in the National League.
Manager Torey Lovullo told the pitcher Friday he had lost his spot in the Arizona rotation to Ryne Nelson, who has pitched well lately while Montgomery continued to stuggle.
Never a reliever before, Montgomery has started 159 of his 160 appearances since breaking into the big leagues with the New York Yankees in 2017. This season was his worst, with a 6.44 earned run average over both halves of the campaign.
The Diamondbacks were a surprise late suitor for Montgomery after losing fellow lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, also signed as a free agent, to a spring training injury.
Rodriguez has since returned, joining a rotation that also includes Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and Nelson, the new fifth starter.
Last year, Arizona parlayed its wild-card berth into its second National League pennant but lost a five-game World Series to Texas, a wild-card winner in the American League.
Montgomery’s pitching was a big reason the Rangers won.
After helping the Texas Rangers win their first world championship in 2024, Jordan Montgomery … [+] showcased the Commissioner’s trophy. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
He went 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA in six post-season starts and was especially effective in the AL Championship Series with two victories over the Houston Astros.
The 31-year-old pitcher said in April that he was pushed by former agent Scott Boras to hold out for more years and more money during contract talks with multiple teams, reportedly including the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
After firing the California-based agent in April, Montgomery charged during a radio interview that Boras “kind of butchered my free agency.”
The lanky lefty did the same since donning a Diamondbacks uniform.
Through the first five months of the 2024 season, opposing hitters were feasting on Montgomery with a .315 batting average, .373 on-base percentage, .508 slugging percentage, and .881 OPS. The pitcher yielded a whopping 11.7 hits per nine innings while averaging only 6.3 strikeouts over the same span.
Fellow Boras client Blake Snell, who also started slowly after signing late, eventually recaptured his form so well that he threw a no-hitter for his new team, the San Francisco Giants.
Montgomery never recovered, with velocity down on both his four-seam fastball and sinker.
A survivor of Tommy John elbow surgery, Montgomery might get another look as a starter next season. A $20 million player option in his contract vested when he made his 10th start and escalated to $22.5MM when he made his 18th start. It would reach $25MM with 23 starts.
In addition to missing 2024 spring training, the pitcher suffered an early knee injury that pushed back his first start until April 19. That merely compounded the felony.
Entering play Saturday, the Diamondbacks stood second in the NL West, trailing only the Dodgers, with a 73-56 record that left them four games out of first place. After winning seven of their last 10, the D’backs owned the first wild-card spot, a half-game ahead of the San Diego Padres and three-and-a-half ahead of the Atlanta Braves.
