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Monday, May 29, 2017

I Was Right About Monty

He did show me up, last time out.

But, today, he reverted to form.  Four innings (and change), 90+ pitches, 3 or more runs in the hole.

With a perfect bullpen outing behind him ( Holder and Shreve gave up nothing ), Monty pitched just well enough to lose.  And to shorten bullpen options for tomorrow.  In effect, he should have stayed home.

He will have a losing record this year.

 How many times can he just not find the plate?  How many times will he lose the game early?  How often do we have to see him not have an" out" pitch?  What, exactly, is good about him, anyway.  He is tall and left-handed?  That's enough?

Oakland brought up a guy from nowhere the other day and he no hit us for 6 innings.  Monty has pitched one good game, one game where he qualified for the win (but didn't really deserve it), and 4 losses where the game was over early.

This learning curve crap sucks.  He is going to be 8-10 if he stays healthy, and improves from this point in the season.

Baltimore had lost 6 in a row until we showed up.

And one of their best players ( Jones ) did not suit up.

But Monty just kept grooving meatballs.  On the whole, a pretty crappy day for the Yankees.

Pass the small pineapple, please.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

THIS WAS HIS WORST START IN MY OPINION... HE THREW A THOUSAND PITCHES, AND WAS IN TROUBLE CONSTANTLY....... BUT!!!!
GUESS HOW MANY EARNED RUNS HE GAVE UP?
1 !
THAT'S RIGHT, 1.
THE CASTRO ERROR KILLED US (AND HIM), BUT ERRORS HAPPEN.
AS USUAL, WE DID NOT HIT OR SCORE FOR HIM.
I'M NOT TRYING TO TWIST STATS HERE TO SHOW HE WAS GOOD TODAY, BECAUSE HE WASN'T....
...BUT SOMEHOW HE DOESN'T REALLY BREAK, AND IT WAS 3 - 1 WHEN HE LEFT. WE STILL HAD A CHANCE....... I RATHER HAVE HIM AT LEAGUE MINIMUM THAN SAY A MATT GARZA WHO COSTS, WHAT, 10 -12 MILLION A YEAR?.. AND COULDN'T BEAT THE FUCKING METS TODAY.

GOOD STARTING PITCHING IS SO HARD TO COME BY THESE DAYS.

Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside said...

This should cheer you up... it's a 1973 recording of John Sterling celebrating 50 years of Yankee Stadium. 44 years ago...

https://youtu.be/_JdKm4LWNZc

bellota said...

Please, please - if there is a god, Chris Carter will not play another inning for the Bombers.

Anonymous said...

BELLOTA SPEAKS THE TRUTH...PLEASE....NO MORE CHRIS CARTER...PLEASE.

ranger_lp said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ranger_lp said...

Guess we didn't get the full Monty did we?

Joe Formerlyof Brooklyn said...


Hard to tell if Monty's allowing of 3 runs was a credit to him, or should be chalked up to how crappy the Orioles have turned out to be (so far). In many games, they score just enough to be competitive but lose; or they pitch well enuf to ALMOST win.

Again, so far.

I live in the DC-MD-VA area, watched the game. The error they gave to Starlin didn't seem right -- to me -- which means all 3 runs might have been "earned."

AND YES -- he threw a lot of pitches. He does this a lot. I am thinking this something that will correct over time -- if not soon, maybe in 2018. Maybe I have too much faith?

ON THE ONE HAND: We need to win ballgames. NOW!

ON THE OTHER HAND: If the Yankees start giving up on young pitchers (Again?), there will be hell to pay. Want another CC Sabathia-type contract? Or Pavano?

Somehow, Alphonso believes he can see Monty's future, and "sees" that it is (NOW) time to give up on him.

It's tough to argue. It's also tough to be absolutely sure.

For a lot of years, I had jobs in which people reported to me (I was an Editor and then a Publisher of small trade magazines). Whenever I looked at someone who needed to be fired -- my thinking always shifted to:

"OK. Let's say (this or that writer/editor) is GONE. How am I gonna fill that slot?"

I hated firing people. You are having an impact on that person and his/her family. My resolution to follow thru, when I did, was based on: This person is already having an impact on me and those who work for me, and on their families, by not holding up (his/her) end.

The effort I made to think it thru always paid off. SOMEONE was going to do the job that needed to be done . . . if not the incumbent, then who? I've talked with other managerial types who've handled this issue. There is always a "fantasy" guy or gal who is going to be available, agree to work for what you can offer, and then do a wunnerful job and make you look like a genius.

NOT!

SO -- SOMEONE has got to be trotted out there as the 5th starter . . . if not Monty, then who be #5?

[sorry to be so long-winded...]

Ken of Brooklyn said...

Wise words Joe Formerly OB, very wise words!

JM said...

Sadly, Adam Warren's career as a starter was wrecked when, as the team's best starting pitcher at the time, he was demoted to the pen. Green, if I recall correctly, was also a very promising starter a couple of years back, so naturally he's in the pen, also. Severino, who seemed brilliant out of the pen, is starting and doing pretty well so far, so no complaints there. Yet.

But after being very impatient with Sevvy, I'm loathe to send Monty to middle-inning relief or, worse, Scranton. He, like CC, has flashes of brilliance, although his ability to string those together into 7 or 8 innings has yet to emerge.

I'm willing to give him a continued chance simply on the WWII names of generals rule. Those flashes of brilliance might actually come to something. And don't forget, Larry Rothschild is doubtlessly working closely with the young lefty. But I have some hope for him anyway.

Parson Tom said...

I agree with the moderates. Monty is not doing a good imitation of 1968 Denny McClain, but he's a still an above average fifth starter. Not the weakest link at all. Give him more time. I think he's going to be good.

Alphonso said...

And, typically, a 5th starter is around .500 when all is said and done.

I am not, by the way, for giving up on him. I am just pissed off that he can't be better than he is, sooner than he is.

We have no secret starters ( unlike Oakland, for example ); Chad Green, Brian Mitchell, Adam Warren. For some reason, we never have those pitchers, whom no one has ever heard of, but they come to the majors and pitch a 1 hit shut-out in their first outing. Often against the Yankees, who cannot hit a pitcher they haven't faced before..

We always have the Severino's, the Montgomery's, the Kaprelians, etc. Everyone knows all about them. Then they come up and are, per expectation, inconsistent with flashes of potential.

Three years later, sometimes four, we might have something. See Pineda ( and Nova?).

Or not.

Then we go buy a former Cy Young winner. Or a runner up.

I'm Bill White said...

The Sterling audio from '73 is a timepiece.

The Ghost of Yankees Past said...

Alphonso, patience, patience , patience !

He is a young left handed pitcher who has had success in the minors and is doing a decent job for his first year in the major league. At 24 years old he should continue to improve with experience. He may or may not prove to be the real deal , but he has shown enough to give him the opportunity to succeed .

While there are a few exceptions, especially those with electric stuff, it takes time for young players to develop . This is especially true for pitchers.

Anonymous said...

Judge (-fan) says:

1) OK, Monty, you are hereby granted more time; we will try to be patient - - please don't turn us into "patients".

2) (Said in the sepulchral voice of Anne Robinson, and laced with contempt):
Chris Carter: you ARE the weakest link; Goodbye! LB (No J)

Leinstery said...

A little late to the party.

Montgomery sucks dick. Yeah he gave up 1 earned run yesterday, but John and Suzyn said that Castro was unlikely to make the play anyways so I'm going to count the other 2 as earned. So only 3 runs to a potentially dangerous lineup in a t-ball ballpark sounds pretty good right? Well not when you go 4 fucking innings and have to get the other half of the game out of the bullpen taking them off the list of available pitchers for a couple of days. And this isn't the first time he's done this, it's essentially every single start. He is shredding the bullpen on his own. If the other four starters don't give a quality start each time out there, then the bullpen is screwed.

Lastly, he is frustrating to watch. 3-2 on every batter makes me almost want to watch the NBA, and nobody in their right mind wants to do that.

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