Mike Montgomery is a weapon disguised as a busted-first-round-pick who's numbers make most people believe he's nothing more than an above-average lefty bullpen arm. The 27-year-old has played for three teams prior to being traded to the Chicago Cubs on July 20th this past season, after making his official major league debut with the Mariners in 2015.
Montgomery was regarded one of the best pitchers in the 2008 draft, leading the Kansas City Royals to nab in the first round with the 36th overall pick. However, after five inconsistent seasons in the Royals' farm system, he was included in a trade packaged that sent James Shields and current Cubs closer Wade Davis to KC with Montgomery and a slew of players heading to Tampa Bay.
Montgomery would be traded once again, this time to Seattle, at Montgomery was beginning to flounder in the minors. The lefty would be given the opportunity to start in the Mariners rotation come 2015, but after posting a 4.60 ERA, a .290 opponent batting average, and a whopping 1.10% HR/9 rate in 16 starts, he was pushed to the bullpen in 2016.
Montgomery saw success in coming out of the pen, deflating his ERA 2.34 in 32 appearances in Seattle, while also increasing the speed of his four-seam fastball from 90 to nearly 94 MPH. On top of this, Montgomery's curve ball was missing more bats than any other pitch in baseball (according to Brooks Baseball), which when paired with his 58.4% groundball rate, made the left-handed reliever one of the hardest pitchers to hit in baseball.
Of course, Theo Epstein was well aware of this and saw an excellent fit with Montgomery and his Chicago Cubs. So, Epstein sent 1st baseman/DH prospect Dan Vogelbach and pitcher Paul Blackburn to Seattle in exchange for Montgomery and pitcher Jordan Pries, as once again Epstein got his man. However, while most people saw the next potential Andrew Miller in Mike Montgomery, Theo Epstein saw the next Jake Arrieta.
In an interview with Len Kasper on our podcast, the 312, Kasper goes in-depth on Mike Montgomery and the Cubs opening at the 5th spot in their rotation. Kasper, who also said this in another interview with the 312 back in October, believes it is "Montgomery's job to lose."
"I think in his heart of hearts, HE wants to be a starter. I love the stuff and the skies the limit. You just trust the pitching info structure lead by Chris Bosio, Lester Strode, and Mike Borzello that they're going to bring the best out of him."And even with the speculation of the Cubs pursuing more starting pitching, Kasper reinforced the idea that Montgomery was going to start, and anyone else added to the roster was acquired to add depth
"I think they're confident that Montgomery can grab that spot. They don't feel like, in my opinion, they need to have a 5th guy. I think it's more of a 6th, 7th, 8th guy for insurance."Listen to the full interview here. Kasper eludes to a sense of confidence the Cubs have in Montgomery, and while maybe not readily apparently at the beginning of the offseason, is becoming more clear as the smoke of free agency disperses. It seems like the Cubs really do see Mike Montgomery as an every-day starter. All five of his pitches generate ground balls, and when he gets ahead in the count his curve ball becomes an excellent strike out pitch, which allows Montgomery to be the aggressor in most situations. Plus, his strikeout percentage improved from 16.2% in 2015, to 22.2% in 2016. Montgomery also has five more years of team control, three of which he is arbitration eligible, and he comes dirt cheap making $515, 000 last season, as the lefty continues to check off more boxes on Theo Epstein's wishlist.
Of course, his ERA when starting compared to relieving almost doubles from 2.10 to 4.23, but he has only pitched a collective 125.2 innings in his two seasons in the majors. And while the advanced numbers do say that Montgomery struggles going through the lineup a second or third time, his numbers as a reliever and spot-starter for the Cubs garner at least a full season of experimenting. While many Cubs fans may have had their sights set on Tyson Ross or younger options like Chris Archer and Sonny Gray, it turns out Theo Epstein made his deal to acquire that young, controllable starter last July, we all just weren't paying attention. Luckily, the Cubs front office was, and now Montgomery looks to prove he belongs in the Chicago Cubs rotation with a strong 2017 campaign.Cubs' Theo Epstein on the Mike Montgomery trade (video via @MDGonzales) https://t.co/d7l4vcQz7H pic.twitter.com/8cdcfcVBtp
— ChicagoSports (@ChicagoSports) July 20, 2016
