Shellshocked Frankie Montas looks nowhere near ready to join the NY Mets roster

Frankie Montas took the hill for his third rehab start on Tuesday. This time he’d get to face Triple-A betters. A questionable free agent signing in the offseason for the New York Mets, Montas was a David Stearns project much like some of the others we’ve seen brought to town. Recently injured or seemingly on the decline pitchers have made some massive progress while being members of the Mets. Montas has yet to toss a single regular season inning and yet his lashings during rehab aren’t exactly inspiring much confidence.

In his most recent performance, Montas went 4 innings, allowed 5 earned runs, and served up 4 home runs, including three to a single player. He threw strikes, 43 of 61 pitches called in his favor.

There’s no argument to make. Montas seems far from ready for big league action.

Another bad rehab start from Frankie Montas confirms the doubts Mets fans had when he was first signed

The difference between Montas and other recent contracts for Mets pitchers is that pesky player option. The team awarded one to Sean Manaea last season which he opted out of only to return on a three-year deal. Montas was more of a replacement for Luis Severino anyway, but with a bump in pay because if you even want any semblance of a quality pitcher in free agency with a previous track record of success, you need to pay a large sum.

Montas received $17 million for this season and is already a virtual lock to opt into the same amount for 2026. Although the rehab start struggles haven’t done any damage to the Mets in the standings, it’s hard to sway fans who already had doubts about this signing from regaining much faith.

The 32-year-old is coming off of a 4.84 ERA season where he threw 150.2 innings in 30 starts. Although improved after the trade deadline upon getting dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers, nothing was especially noteworthy other than his 11 K/9. A 4.55 ERA and 1.6 HR/9 failed to have any of us jump for joy upon realizing he’d be a member of the Mets in 2025 and very likely in 2026, unless he was able to replicate what Manaea did.

Montas now has 8.1 innings on rehab with 9 earned runs allowed. A hiccup here or there during rehab appearances can be overlooked. At some point, it becomes a pattern that leaves an icky taste on your tongue.