The Yankees will be without Frankie Montas for the foreseeable future after the team placed him on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. The designation is retroactive to Sept. 17.
Montas underwent an MRI over the weekend and it revealed inflammation, which ultimately led the Yankees to make the move. The rightie will be shut down from throwing for a couple of days and the issue is similar to the one he dealt with in Oakland earlier this season.
The Yankees trade deadline addition did receive a cortisone shot on Monday and he is still hoping to get one more start under his belt before the postseason.
“Hopefully I can make one start. Right now I just want to take it day by day,” Montas said in the clubhouse prior to Tuesday’s series opener with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone seemed to be more cautious on his outlook for the 29-year-old starter when he spoke with reporters at Yankee Stadium. Boone indicated that Montas could be shut down for 10 days and then the team would start to ramp him back up.
He did remain open to the idea that Montas would get another start before the season came to an end.
“It’s certainly possible, but we’ll just see how the recovery goes here over the next week or 10 days,” Boone said. “Then we’ll see where we are from the calendar standpoint. How many pitches we can get him up to. Those kinds of things.”
The Yankees are down to their last 15 games of the season after Tuesday, which also makes getting Montas back in for a start a little bit tricky. Boone also acknowledged that the timing does add a bit of a challenge as well for the Yankees and reiterated that the next week to 10 days will be the deciding factor of what Montas’ next steps would be.
Montas dealt with inflammation in his shoulder in July that cost him two weeks while he was still with the Athletics. He was able to get two more starts in with Oakland before the trade deadline.
He was eventually shipped to the Yankees at the deadline in a deal that included reliever Lou Trivino.
The right-hander has not panned out exactly how it was thought he would have going 1-3 in eight starts and posting a 6.35 ERA. Montas has not looked like the same pitcher that he did with Oakland and has only had a small number of starts that made it seem like he was turning the corner in pinstripes.
For more Yankees and Aaron Judge coverage, visit amNY Sports
Montas threw 3.1 innings on Friday night in Milwaukee before he left the game. He averaged 95.1 mph on 30 fastballs in that game, according to the Associated Press, while his 14 sinkers averaged 94.6 mph.
Both were down by 1 mph from his season averages.
