Each year at 213 we look through the Non-Roster Invitees to spring training and get to know them a bit. Are they in camp to get a look at big league hitting/pitching to aid their development? Are the Mets just trying to get a better look at a future rookie? Are they a veteran trying to get back to the major league level? What can we expect from them this season?
Around the same time that the Mets announced the Seth Lugo injury, they also announced contracts to Mike Montgomery and Tommy Hunter. We already looked at Hunter, today we’ll look at Montgomery, what he has done recently as we get ready for spring training games to start.
Mike was drafted by the Royals in 2008 in the first round and was part of the 2012 trade that sent former top prospect Wil Myers and (as of writing this on 2/16) free agent Jake Odorizzi to Tampa Bay for Wade Davis and James Sheilds. He would make his major league debut in 2015 with the Mariners after being traded for Mets legend Erasmo Ramirez. The following year he was traded to the Cubs, which is the team I personally associate Montgomery with and he was traded again in 2019, this time back to the Royals. He was granted free agency at end of 2020.
2016 was his best year – posting a 2.52 ERA over 100 innings across two leagues with a 3.79 FIP, 1.170 WHIP, and 164 ERA+. His last full season in 2019 was terrible – especially compared to pitchers the Mets had filling out the rotation for the last couple of years. In 2019 across two leagues he had a 4.95 ERA over 91.0 innings with a 5.52 FIP, 1.615 WHIP and 94 ERA+. It was the first time his ERA+ was below 100 since his rookie season. Last year he only saw 5.1 innings over a few games allowing 5 runs, 3 earned.
Mike Montgomery will be 31 this season and this spring he’ll be taking stock of what he has left. Like several other NRI’s in camp, there are a couple of ways this can go. He could be very impressive and surprisingly beat out a few people for the fifth starter spot (unlikely), he could perform well enough to be asked to be released (not sure if he can opt out) and sign with another team. He could also take an assignment to Syracuse. Given his long track record in the majors, he’ll probably get a long look throughout Spring Training, especially considering how many times the Mets have to play the Marlins and Nationals this year in spring.
