Frankie Montas' first full season with the New York Yankees will begin in a similar fashion to the way he ended last year: on the shelf with shoulder inflammation. The right-hander will miss the first month of the season due to the injury, and according to sources, he's between eight and ten weeks behind in his offseason training.
The Yankees and Montas avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $7.5 million deal last Friday. The 29-year-old missed two weeks with the Oakland Athletics last season, before landing on the 15-day IL on Sept. 20 with the Yankees after eight starts after an MRI exam showed inflammation in the shoulder.
Montas was the Yankees’ top pitching acquisition at the 2022 trade deadline after they missed out on Luis Castillo, who was dealt from the Reds to the Mariners and has since signed a massive extension to stay in Seattle. With Montas out for at least two months for the Yankees, they'll need a few of their other starters to fill his shoes. Although New York's bullpen had its fair share of struggles last year, for this piece, we're focusing only on starting pitchers who will need to begin the season strong to keep the team afloat early.
Montas himself was hit or miss last year and his absence is by no means devastating for the Yankees, but with him out, look for these three starting pitchers to step up for New York in the early months of the 2023 season.
Nestor Cortés
Nestor Cortés was a gem in his 2022 season with the Yankees starting rotation, throwing an immaculate inning against the Baltimore Orioles in April before coming five outs away from a no-hitter in a game against the Texas Rangers in May. He was well-deserving of a spot at the 2022 All-Star game, registering two strikeouts and a walk in his one inning for the American League. He also earned a spot on Team USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic in Mar. 2023.
After avoiding arbitration with the Yankees last week, “Nasty Nestor” is due for a huge season with the Yanks this year, and will be relied on to be a key piece of the team's rotation, especially with Montas out. The left-hander went 19-9 last year with 346 strikeouts, and the sky is the limit for the Cuban star.
Domingo Germán
Domingo Germán had a forgettable year with New York in 2022, after missing the first few months of the season on the 60-day injured list due to right shoulder impingement syndrome. He returned in the middle of July and was serviceable for the Yankees, but manager Aaron Boone couldn't seem to decide if the 30-year-old right-hander should be a starter or a reliever.
Germán has a career 3.42 ERA as a reliever in 47.1 innings, with 62 strikeouts and a .273 wOBA. As a starter, he has a 4.71 ERA in 294 frames, with a .318 wOBA. A bullpen role is probably more forgiving for Germán’s profile: spotty command, big fastball velocity but not ideal shape, and solid secondaries, according to pinstripealley.com.
That being said, with Montas out, it looks like German will be part of the Yankees starting rotation in 2023, and the team could really use him to produce his reliever stats in a starting role. He went 2-5 with a 3.61 ERA over 14 starts, and New York will be looking for better results from him in 2023. With Montas on the shelf, he will certainly get his chance.
Luis Severino
Say what you want about Luis Severino, he is a fantastic pitcher when healthy. The problem is, he's never healthy. The 28-year-old only made 19 starts and pitched 102 innings in 2022 because he missed two months of the season on the 60-day IL. He was healthy in October when the Yankees needed him most, and slotted in as the No. 3 starter behind Gerrit Cole and Cortés.
The longest-tenured Yankee pitched a no-hitter through seven innings in a game against the Rangers this season before being pulled, and has that kind of capability if he can stay off the injured list. With Montas out, the Yankees will need him to step up he'll likely take the No. 4 spot in the starting rotation behind Cole, newly-acquired Carlos Rodon and Cortés. The right-hander’s 27.7-percent strikeout rate ranked 20th among the 124 starting pitchers with at least 100 innings in 2022, a tenth of a point off 2022 Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander.
Severino showed more than a few flashes of what kind of player he can be when healthy and motivated. It's an encouraging sign for the future, and the Yankees will be banking on him returning to his 2017-18 form.
Even without Frankie Montas for the first two months of the season, a rotation that boasts Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortés, Luis Severino and Domingo Germán can be one of the best in baseball, and it will be the latter three who will need to step up most in Montas' absence when the 2023 campaign commences.
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