D-Backs Move Jordan Montgomery To Bullpen

The Diamondbacks are kicking Jordan Montgomery to the bullpen. Manager Torey Lovullo announced the decision on The Burns & Gambo Show this afternoon (link via Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports).

Lovullo said he informed Montgomery of the decision today. Righty Ryne Nelson has outpitched Montgomery in recent weeks, earning the fifth starter job in the process. Nelson, who is on the mound tonight at Fenway Park, carried an ERA approaching 5.00 into the All-Star Break. He has completely flipped the script over the past month, turning in a 2.89 mark while striking out 29% of opposing hitters in 37 1/3 frames. Nelson remains behind Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt in the starting five.

On the other hand, Montgomery has struggled for essentially the entire season. He owns a 6.44 ERA with a well below-average 15.5% strikeout rate over 19 starts. Montgomery got a late start to the year after not signing until Opening Day. Unlike Blake Snell, who had an atrocious start as a late signee before recapturing his Cy Young form, Montgomery has not found any success as the year has gone on. He’s allowing 6.44 earned runs per nine in both the first and second half. Opponents are hitting over .300 while slugging north of .500.

Montgomery has averaged around 92 MPH on his sinker and four-seam fastball. Both pitches sat above 93 a year ago. Aside from a decent 11.9% swinging strike rate that is in line with his career average, there’s little in this year’s statistical profile that offers much hope for a turnaround. Montgomery had an excellent track record coming into this season, but the D-Backs have five starters who are performing better as they battle for a playoff spot. They’re four games back of the Dodgers in the NL West and hold a five-game edge on a Wild Card berth.

This will be Montgomery’s first bullpen work in his career. He has started 159 of his 160 MLB games. The relief appearance was in September 2019 when he’d returned from Tommy John surgery without the benefit of a lengthy minor league rehab assignment. He’ll presumably work as a multi-inning reliever. If the D-Backs make the playoffs, Lovullo and his staff might have a difficult decision on whether to carry him on the postseason roster at all.

That’d have been hard to fathom just a few months ago. Arizona signed Montgomery as an expected high-floor rotation pickup when Rodriguez suffered a lat strain in camp. He’s playing on a $25MM salary. He started 10 games and unlocked an accompanying $20MM player option for next year. That escalated to $22.5MM when he made his 18th start; he’d have pushed it to $25MM if he reached 23 starts, though that no longer seems likely. In any case, he’ll almost certainly exercise the option rather than returning to free agency next winter.