2) Frankie Montas
It’s important the Mets don’t get fooled by any success a player like Frankie Montas may have. As slow as they’d probably be to remove him from the starting rotation, they also need to be cautious about relying on him too heavily to be a solution. We can think of Montas as the club’s number five starter when all are healthy. Getting everyone healthy is the trouble. They haven’t had a day this season when the planned starting rotation has all been together.
Montas is going to be with the Mets barring some mastery by David Stearns. We have to accept it and hope for the best. Fortunately, he has steadied himself and could, at the very least, give them innings.
Still, Mets fans can’t feel too confident about this oft-injured pitcher who hasn’t put together a full and above-average season in several years. It was a questionable decision to sign him altogether let alone give him the player option for 2026 that will likely be picked up by Montas the second he can.
After a brilliant season debut against the Atlanta Braves following a dreadful rehab stint, Montas flopped against the Pittsburgh Pirates in start number two. His most recent time out was somewhere in between, lasting 5.2 innings and allowing 4 earned runs versus the New York Yankees. Believing his issue from Pittsburgh had to do with tipping pitches, a lackluster rebound should have Stearns in full admission that maybe the team does need a starting pitcher reinforcement, even on a small scale.