Yankees’ Frankie Montas to Undergo Shoulder Surgery; Could Return Later This Season
The New York Yankees will be without right-hander Frankie Montas for most – if not all – of the 2023 season due to right shoulder surgery, the team announced on Wednesday.
Montas, acquired from the Oakland Athletics prior to last season’s trade deadline, is scheduled to undergo surgery on Feb. 21st which will be performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. The 29-year-old has been dealing with a nagging shoulder injury since last July.
Once completed, Montas will have several months of recovery ahead of him, sidelining the 6-foot-2 hurler until at least August or September. But, as manager Aaron Boone explained to reporters on Wednesday, the team should have a better idea of his timeline post-surgery.
“Best case is he would be back late in the season, but we’re really going to know a lot after [Feb.] 21 when they know specifically what they have to do in [the surgery],” Boone said. “If it’s just a scope, then there’s the potential he could be back late in the year.”
After finishing the 2022 regular season on the injured list, though returning for one playoff appearance with New York, Montas experienced discomfort and inflammation in his shoulder during off-season training, leading to a few shutdowns in hopes of resolving the issue.
But once that route proved unsuccessful, the Yankees sent the former Athletic for further testing and ultimately determined that his injury would require surgery – less than a month after general manager Brian Cashman said there didn’t appear to be any structural damage.
Montas spoke with ESPN’s Marly Rivera shortly after Boone’s announcement, saying his most recent MRI was encouraging and hopes surgery can allow him to pitch in 2023.
New York was already without fellow starter Nestor Cortes Jr., who withdrew from the 2023 WBC earlier this week due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain. Boone is confident the left-hander will be ready for Opening Day however.
Still, without Montas, the Yankees’ starting rotation now sits in a much tougher spot than it did a few weeks ago. Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón remain intact as the franchise’s one-two punch, but there’s plenty of uncertainty behind that ferocious duo.
“Losing Frankie is clearly a blow,” Boone said. “And unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to see him pitch like we know the pitcher that he is. But we also feel very confident in those that are now going to maybe get an opportunity because he’s not there initially.
“We feel very good about the rotation that we will potentially go north with at the end of next month.”
The Yankees are hopeful that Luis Severino can enjoy his first healthy season since 2018, with Domingo German likely to serve as Montas’ injury replacement. If Cortes misses time, though, there will likely be an open competition featuring Clarke Schmidt, Deivi Garcia, Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez and Matt Krook.
Montas, meanwhile, will be motivated to return before the end of the season as he’s eligible to reach free agency next off-season. As a soon-to-be 30-year-old pitcher, he could salvage some of his value with a late-season debut.
Despite his recent injury complications, the Dominican native was one of the top starters in the majors heading into last season, posting a 3.37 ERA and 26.6 percent strikeout rate while registering career-highs in innings pitched (187) and fWAR (four) with Oakland in 2021.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: Matt Boulton. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.