In 2008, the eve of my 40th birthday, my father completed the New York City Marathon. And then, he died. It took myself and my family by surprise. And it took weeks, months and years to recover. No, I wasn't okay. No, I didn't perform great a work. Yes, it hurt. Fast forward to hours before the trade deadline and the Yankees' acquisition of starting pitcher Frankie Montas from the Oakland A's. The highly anticipated flame thrower was expected to fly across the country, and step right into an already cohesive pitching staff for the winningest franchise in baseball? Oh and also be okay after losing a family member? No, that is not how it works.
Montas' first start did not quite go as everyone anticipated. As MLB.com reported, "Sunday’s start was a tough spot for Montas, who didn’t even meet most of his teammates until he walked into the clubhouse just hours before first pitch. After being acquired from Oakland, he went on the bereavement list to support his wife at their home in Arizona following the death of her mother. Montas didn’t arrive in St. Louis until Saturday evening. He also had been working his way back from some weakness in the back of his right shoulder and he isn’t built up to throw as many as 100 pitches yet anyway."
That's the reality of coping with a death of a family member, flying halfway across the country to meet a team who was slumping mightily and mourning the trade of one of their own young pitchers, who was ironically pitching against them. Remember Jordan Montgomery? Yes, I am sure his trade to St. Louis did not sit well with the Yankee pitching staff, so likely Montas was not given the warmest reception, not on purpose but just because of the circumstances.
Not Montas blamed any of his poor performance on these circumstances. Instead he is staying positive. “This is the best team right now,” Montas said. “They have a really good group right here. I’m excited to be here. I wanted to go out there and show what I can do. That was not the case today, but this is not my last one. This is the first one," reminded Montas.
The Yankees have certainly turned the corner. Avoiding the sweep against Toronto, sweeping the two game series against the New York Mets and playing well against Oakland A's. This uptick in energy for the Yankees seems to be timed perfectly with Montas's settling in with his new team and becoming more comfortable following a very uncomfortable start to August.
"Montas looked much more like the hard-throwing, bulldog-type that he’d been billed as before the deadline when he gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Mets on Tuesday. Montas hit 98 mph, worked through early trouble, and seemed much more comfortable as the game went on. “I thought he settled in really nice,” Boone said. Montas had gone into the night having given up 14 runs in his first 14 innings with the Yankees, allowing a .310 batting average. He needed a bounce-back performance, and he gave it to his new club," reported NJ.com.
For some reason, we as a fanbase don't want to give guys like Montas time to adjust. Baseball is 90% mental. Every sport is. And it is not easy to go out and pitch well every outing. In between you have your routine, your workouts, your mobility and strength training, nutrition, hydration and of course sleep. Montas had a disrupted schedule and an emotional loss. I think we are going to see great things from the 27-year-old pitcher. Let's just give him a chance to shine.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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