Montgomery makes last case for roster spot as camp winds down
The Mets have one more Grapefruit League game and a couple of days before their season officially kicks off Thursday. That’s less than four days to Opening Day 2021 — with fans this time.
Before the Mets’ 10-2 loss to the Marlins on Sunday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., manager Luis Rojas said his guys were ready for the regular season to start.
“We’re excited,” Rohas said. “Really excited to get out there as a team and watch the guys play. I know they want to watch each other play. I know they want to be in between the lines, all those things. They’re ready to go. They’re all packed and ready to take off tomorrow to Washington, have those couple of days of practice or whatever.”
Jacob deGrom will kick things off for the season for the Mets in Washington, with Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker likely following next with Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard still rehabbing injuries. The remaining spots could be claimed by lefties David Peterson or Joey Lucchesi, but there are also others still vying for a potential spot somewhere as a Mets pitcher for this season.
Veteran Mike Montgomery, on a minor league contract, was still fighting for a spot on the 26-man roster as of Sunday afternoon. He was tagged with five runs, including one homer, and six hits, with one walk and two strikeouts over 2 ⅔ innings.
“The first inning, it was kind of just some unfortunate series of events and they can, you know, find a couple holes, but I feel good,” Montgomery said of his four-run first inning. “I think that’s first and foremost for me: Physically I feel good. It was nice getting out there, getting the start ... all in all, I think I made some good adjustments after the first.”
Montgomery is referring to his lat injury last year that took him from Royals starter to perpetual name on the injured list. He only pitched five innings last year.
Much like his 2020 was much too small a sample size, Rojas said his Sunday outing wasn’t like what he’d seen from the southpaw the rest of camp.
“I think the game was just a little different than the other outings that we’ve seen him velo-wise command-wise.”
Of whether Montgomery planned to exercise his opt-out from his minor league deal Sunday, the pitcher said: “I’ll go home and talk to these guys later. Talk to my family and my agent and everything and see what the situation is. I want to be in New York, and I’m pretty confident in myself and my stuff right now ... kind of just want see what they have in store.”
Montgomery, if given a roster spot, could be used either as a starter or in the bullpen. He’s had experience in both over his six-year big league career and is more than willing to do what the team asks of him.
“Physically and mentally I’m prepared to do pretty much anything,” Montgomery said.