QUEENS, NY — New York Mets starting pitcher Frankie Montas has been demoted to the bullpen following a rash of poor starts, manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed on Tuesday prior to their series opener against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field.
The 32-year-old right-hander has been unable to find his footing after signing a two-year, $34 million deal to bolster the Mets’ rotation over the winter. In eight appearances (seven starts), he was 3-2 with a 6.38 ERA, which included 15 earned runs yielded in his last three outings (11.1 innings).
“He’s not happy. He’s a competitor,” Mendoza said. “He wants to start. That’s what we brought him in for, but understanding that the results have to be there. He understood and he’s going to do whatever it takes.
“We just need to see consistency, and he’ll be the first one to tell you. It’s been a battle for him… He understands where we’re at in the season and that’s why we made the decision.”
Montas will be available out of the bullpen beginning on Thursday after he throws a side session on Wednesday. Mendoza projects him to be a “long guy” or multi-inning reliever, but is not pigeonholing him into one role — at least for now.
“You never know. That’s what I told him, too,” Mendoza said. “He could be pitching in the eighth inning in a tie ballgame because here we’re at bullpen-wise. We’ll try our best to give him enough time to get ready when we call his name. The back-to-back is something he’s never done. It’ll be fluid. We told him that he has to be honest with us. The recovery and how we’re going to use him is still fluid.”
McLean, Sproat in running for call-up
As it stands, the Mets currently do not have a starter for Saturday’s matchup in Queens against the Seattle Mariners, but a spark could be on the way. Top Triple-A pitching prospects Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean are “in the conversation” to fill the spot left by Montas’ demotion.
“There’s a lot to like, especially where they are with their development,” Mendoza said of Sproat and McLean. “We continue to ask a lot whether it’s Sproat with the changeup or finding something against lefties, same thing with McLean. The way they’ve been competing, they’ve been going more than five innings, and they’re getting results.”
Sproat has found his stuff after a slow start to life in Triple-A and has been dominant for over a month. In his last seven starts (39 innings pitched), he has a 1.15 ERA.
McLean has been solid all season, getting the call to Triple-A after going 3-1 with a 1.37 ERA with Double-A Binghamton. In 16 appearances (13 starts) in Syracuse, he is 5-4 with a 2.78 ERA.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Mendoza said. “But whoever comes up here, if it’s one of the prospects, the plan is for giving them a good look here.”
Blackburn getting one more rehab start
Veteran righty Paul Blackburn is not going to be in the conversation to step in on Saturday, as he is going out for one more rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday.
Blackburn has done well in his comeback from a shoulder injury. In five rehab starts, he has a 2.42 ERA and 1.150 WHIP across 26 innings, including his most recent outing on Friday in which he allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work. He threw 97 pitches.
“I think this is the first time he’s on regular rest,” Mendoza said. “He’s been throwing the ball well. I think just continuing to build up the volume, repeating the 90-pitch mark… He’s done that… He’s been doing pretty good down there.”
