Diamondbacks left-hander Jordan Montgomery says he will probably be having Tommy John surgical procedure subsequent week, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. He’ll due to this fact miss the 2025 season and certain a notable chunk of 2026 as nicely.
The out-of-nowhere information is a brutal growth for the lefty. The previous year-plus have already been a difficult time for him and now he’s slated for an additional year-plus of rehab earlier than he can enhance his trajectory.
The southpaw already had Tommy John surgical procedure as soon as, in June 2018. He missed the latter half of that season and most of 2019. He then had a subpar exhibiting in 2020. He stabilized issues for a three-year stretch after that. From 2021 to 2023, he made 94 begins and logged 524 1/3 innings. He had a 3.48 earned run common, 22.5% strikeout charge, 6.2% stroll charge and 44.5% floor ball charge. FanGraphs thought of him to be value 10.3 wins above alternative for that span. He was a key a part of the 2023 Rangers staff that gained the World Collection, tossing 31 innings that postseason with a 2.90 ERA.
He hit free company after getting that ring and appeared poised for a robust nine-figure contract, however that didn’t come to cross. The 2023-24 offseason was tough for many free agent, with the so-called “Boras 4” changing into the poster youngsters for the chilly winter. Scott Boras shoppers Montgomery, Blake Snell, Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger all lingered unsigned into the spring. Every finally signed a short-term deal that fell nicely beneath preliminary expectations.
In Montgomery’s case, he agreed with the Diamondbacks late in March. It was a one-year, $25M assure, although with a simple path to additional incomes energy. He may vest a $20M participant choice with simply 10 begins and bump the worth to $22.5M with 18 begins and $25M with 23 begins.
After lacking the beginning of the season resulting from his late signing, he by no means received on monitor and finally received bumped to the bullpen. He made 21 begins and 4 aid appearances, ending the 12 months with a 6.23 ERA in 117 innings. The membership completed 89-73, tied with the Mets and Braves, however these two golf equipment took the ultimate wild-card spots by way of tiebreakers.
In early October, contemporary off the sting of simply barely lacking the playoffs, membership proprietor Ken Kendrick publicly expressed frustration with the Montgomery signing.
“Trying again, in hindsight, a horrible resolution to have invested that cash in a man that carried out as poorly as he did,” Kendrick mentioned. “It’s our largest mistake this season from a expertise standpoint. And I’m the perpetrator of that.”
Whereas he pointed the finger at himself for suggesting the entrance workplace pursue him, it was nonetheless shocking to see an proprietor publicly roast one among his personal gamers in such a way.
Regardless of that obvious pressure, Montgomery wasn’t going to stroll away from $22.5M after the season he had. He exercised his participant choice for the 2025 marketing campaign. That led to a full winter of commerce hypothesis. The Diamondbacks didn’t want him within the rotation, particularly after Arizona native Corbin Burnes agreed to signal there. That gave them a projected beginning group of Burnes, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodríguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson.
However Montgomery stayed with Arizona all through the offseason. Simply prior to now week, there have been some experiences of ongoing commerce talks. The lefty simply pitched a spring recreation on March 19, lower than every week in the past. Given the accidents to different pitchers across the league, there gave the impression to be not less than some likelihood to a membership swinging a deal for Montgomery simply earlier than Opening Day. That’s clearly off the desk now.
For Montgomery, he was certainly hoping to engineer a bounceback season in 2025 earlier than returning to the open market. His final foray into free company didn’t go as deliberate, sufficient that he changed his representation and later accused Boras of getting “butchered” his case. However he’ll as an alternative go into the 2025-26 offseason nonetheless recovering from this surgical procedure. At that time, he’ll possible be on the lookout for a one-year “show it” deal or maybe a backloaded two-year pact protecting the 2026-27 seasons. He’ll flip 33 years outdated this December.
For the Diamondbacks, they have been additionally hoping for Montgomery to get issues again on monitor, if just for the fee financial savings. Per current reporting, they requested not less than one membership to tackle $13M of the $22.5M nonetheless owed to the lefty. That was a tall ask however maybe a robust early-season efficiency from the lefty may have elevated his enchantment across the league. Now the membership could have no likelihood of shifting any of that cash.
The one silver lining is that this clarifies some roster issues. Montgomery will probably be placed on the 60-day injured record, giving them an additional 40-man spot to work with. It additionally crystallizes their rotation plans a bit, since they will simply wipe Montgomery off the board. Even with out him, they nonetheless have six guys for 5 rotation spots, which maybe leaves Nelson to work an extended aid function till a spot opens up for him.
