Monty surgery has ’em eyeing mound options

TORONTO — The Yankees have made no secret about their desire to add starting pitching, and that desire should intensify given the deflating news on Tuesday that Jordan Montgomery will require seasonending Tommy John surgery.

Montgomery was expected to miss 6-8 weeks after suffering a strained flexor tendon of his left elbow in early May. But that injury is often a precursor to Tommy John — as the Bombers found out with top prospect James Kaprielian, who was ultimately dealt to Oakland and recently suffered a setback in his quest to return. Montgomery, the 25-year-old lefty who is 11-7 with a 3.84 ERA in 35 career starts, will undergo surgery on Thursday in New York.

Montgomery had been throwing on flat ground in Baltimore in recent days, but his program was shut down and an MRI taken Monday revealed the worst. In the shortterm, this is obviously a significant opportunity for No. 5 starter Domingo German, who has compiled a 6.33 ERA in five starts while filling in for Montgomery but has pitched better of late. German himself had Tommy John and wondered if his career was over as a result, but was able to recover and return — at least partly due to his self belief. “Domingo remains where he is and he’s done a great job for us, so we feel really good about the five that we have right now,” Boone said. “But obviously we’re a little bit nicked up. We’ve got some guys that we feel like can contribute at some point if we got into a situation, and obviously Brian (Cashman) and the whole organization are always working as many possibilities to continue to keep depth viable.”

Luis Severino has emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball, and the Yankees are 10-0 in his last 10 starts. But behind their 24-year-old ace, there are a lot of question marks. Masahiro Tanaka remains homer prone and inconsistent, and Sonny Gray’s string of up-anddown outings continues as well. CC Sabathia, at 37, hasn’t been particularly effective lately either, though he was excellent in the team’s 7-2 victory over the Blue Jays on Tuesday, allowing two runs in a seasonhigh tying seven innings.

So the Bombers will need at least one more starter, maybe two. And they certainly have the pieces in their farm system to at the very least be in the conversation for anyone who becomes available.

The market is still taking shape, and Madison Bumgarner’s season debut on Tuesday should merit plenty of eyeballs from opposing executives. Returning from a broken left hand, Bumgarner is the type of high-impact starter the Yankees covet. But the Giants are near the top of the NL West standings, and their offseason acquisitions of veterans Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen pointed toward a team that’s ready to win now.

Still, if San Francisco does fall out of it, it’s a team in desperate need of a talent infusion in its weak farm system. And Cashman is close with Giants executive VP of baseball operations Brian Sabean.

The Diamondbacks are in a similar situation with free-agent-tobe Patrick Corbin, who has already expressed his desire to play in the Bronx for the team he grew up rooting for. So the Bombers will certainly be watching the race while trying to best the Red Sox.

Cole Hamels, who has been dealing against the best the AL has to offer, could be a possibility if the Rangers are willing to eat some of his remaining $22.5 million owed for 2018. Michael Fulmer, an offseason target, has struggled, while it would be a surprise of Toronto dealt J.A. Happ or Tampa traded Chris Archer to a division rival. Tyson Ross could potentially be had as well.

Internally, the Yankees have Justus Sheffield and Chance Adams both starting at Triple-A Scranton. But the 22-yearold lefty Sheffield, who has a 3.80 ERA, just gave up six runs in his last start (he also dealt with a shoulder injury recently) while the 23-year-old righty Adams has pitched to a 5.26 ERA thus far. Granted, they could become factors down the line, according to Boone, but neither appear close to being ready.

The Yankees’ potent offense can carry them on most nights. And their bullpen is really good. But they could certainly use more consistent length from their rotation, which is why their inability to land Gerrit Cole over the winter still stings.

For now, they’ll continue to rely on German while hoping Clint Frazier — and others like him — tear up the minors, making them all the more attractive to other teams.