NEW YORK -- The Mets will delay their Frankie Montas conundrum at least one more week.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said Saturday that Montas will receive an additional Minor League start as he works his way back from a strained right lat muscle. For Montas, the problem has not been health but effectiveness on a rehab assignment that’s seen him produce a 13.17 ERA over five outings. Montas has allowed multiple runs in every start so far and has served up seven homers over his last three outings at Triple-A Syracuse, spanning 9 1/3 innings.
In his latest start on Friday, Montas gave up eight earned runs.
“I wouldn’t say concern, because physically he says he’s fine,” Mendoza said. “If there was something physically wrong, then you’d say, ‘OK, there’s some concerns here.’ It’s more mechanics and things like that. As he continues to get reps, we’re hoping that we start seeing better results.”
Montas still has not appeared in a Major League game since signing a two-year, $34 million deal with the Mets in free agency. Even with Kodai Senga landing on the injured list this week due to a Grade 1 right hamstring strain, the Mets have five healthy starters, having recently shifted Paul Blackburn back into the rotation. That means they have little urgency to add Montas to the mix if he’s not pitching effectively.
If Montas were performing better on his rehab assignment, he’d be an obvious choice to replace Senga in the rotation, which leads MLB with a 2.78 ERA. But if he continues to struggle next time out, the Mets could bring Montas back as a reliever instead.
“We haven’t made that decision yet,” Mendoza said. “He’s got one more, and then we’re going to have to make a decision there.”
One issue is that Montas’ struggles have prevented him from stretching out in the Minors the way the Mets intended. He threw just 53 pitches on Friday, rather than hitting his prescribed pitch count of 85-90.
Montas’ 30-day rehab assignment window expires on June 22. After that point, the Mets must either add Montas to the active Major League roster or receive consent from the pitcher and approval from the Commissioner’s Office to send him on another rehab assignment following a seven-day waiting period.
“I want to help,” Montas said. “That’s the biggest thing for me. That’s what is kind of killing me, not being able to help. Obviously, the team is doing pretty good. But I am the type of guy -- I like to do my part.”
What happens after Montas’ next start remains to be seen. The Mets could activate Montas as a reliever. They could have him replace Blackburn in the rotation. They could temporarily shift to a six-man rotation, given an upcoming stretch of 13 games in 13 days. Or they could ask Montas to extend his rehab window -- an uncertain proposition, considering Montas’ insistence that he’s healthy.
“This rehab process was actually pretty good,” Montas said. “They did an amazing job on my lat. This is probably the strongest my arm and shoulder has felt in a while.”
“We haven’t seen the results,” added Mendoza. “But physically, he continues to say he’s fine.”
Sean Manaea (right oblique strain) is also on his way back from an injury, though he is earlier in his rehab window than Montas. The left-hander has made two rehab starts for Brooklyn so far and has seen more promising results than Montas. Manaea should return in late June or early July.