YANKEES’ MONTAS WILL MISS 1ST HALF

Frankie Montas won’t start throwing until at least late May following right shoulder surgery, a timetable that could allow him to pitch for the New York Yankees in the season’s second half.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday the labrum of the 29-year-old right-hander was cleaned up during the procedure a day earlier with Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache and Montas’ rotator cuff did not need to be repaired. Montas won’t throw for 12 weeks.

“Everything went according to plan,” Boone said. “We’re day one out of surgery, so we have a long way to go from there. We’re hopeful at some point he can get back but I don’t want to best case, worst case.”

Montas was acquired from Oakland on Aug 1. and went 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA in eight starts with the Yankees.

He didn’t pitch after Sept. 16 due to inf lammation in his pitching shoulder.

Montas left a July 3 start at Seattle after 13 pitches with shoulder tightness.

He returned July 21 and had a 2.25 ERA in starts against Detroit and Houston.

Time saver

Yankees starting pitchers Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Luis Severino along with reliever Michael King threw two innings apiece in a simulated game with a Triple-A umpire behind the plate and the new pitch clock ticking away.

The result was each half inning averaged around two minutes shorter than in previous years. And there were only a couple violations.

“I feel like these first few days, from that standpoint, has been a success,” Boone said. “It’s something that I’ve kind of been beating them over their head with. I think that’s what was good about having an umpire here today where you can have that casual interaction and that feedback.”

McCullers will miss opening day

Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. says he will miss opening day for the World Series champions because of a strained muscle in his pitching arm.

McCullers, sidelined for the first 41⁄2 months of last season while rehabbing from a right flexor pronator strain, noticed soreness after a bullpen session last week.

He had an MRI on Tuesday night. He told reporters Wednesday that it showed no structural damage to his elbow but will delay his start.

Hometown honors Jenkins

Ferguson Jenkins’ hometown will honor the baseball Hall of Famer with a statue.

Chatham-Kent, Ontario will unveil a 9-foot bronze figure of the 80-year-old former pitcher on June 10, a replica of the statue by sculptor Lou Cella that was unveiled outside Chicago’s Wrigley Field last May.

A three-time All-Star, Jenkins won 20 or more games each year from 1967-72, was voted the 1971 NL Cy Young Award and in 1991 became the first Canadian inducted into the baseball Hall.

Notable

Reds first baseman Joey Votto is still rehabbing from last summer’s shoulder and biceps surgery and may not be ready to play in the regular-season opener March 30. The 39-year-old Votto is in the last season of a $251.5 million, 12-year contract.

• The Phillies say Noah Song’s transfer from active duty to Navy selective reserves frees him up to join the team’s spring training camp today. The 25-year-old from California, was taken by the Phillies in the winter meeting draft in December with hopes he would play after military service.

• Free agent outfielder Ben Gamel has agreed to a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.