The 2020 season was a big step forward for Yankees lefty Jordan Montgomery.
The 27-year-old posted mediocre numbers with a 5.11 ERA and 1.295 WHIP, but more important than his stats was the fact that the 6-foot-6 lefthander was able to make 11 starts in the shortened 60-game season, showing no ill effects from his 2018 Tommy John surgery that limited him to just two appearances in 2019.
Speaking with the YES Network on Thursday night, Montgomery spoke about how he felt the 2020 season went for him, saying that he was also able to raise his velocity with a mechanical tweak.
“I’m pretty happy with it,” Montgomery said. “As crazy as it was, there was really no such thing as a schedule or a routine. You just kind of got the ball whenever you got it. Excited to have fans in the stands again and get back to a long season to get after it with the team.
“[There were] a couple of movement patterns I was working on, getting in better positions, and really that just gave my arm a little more life. I’m still working on it. It kind of didn’t stick as much as I wanted to. I got away from it a little bit at the end of the season, but just trying to get more reps and get muscle memory doing the right things.”
But perhaps the most important facet of Montgomery’s 2020 campaign was that he was finally able to make his first career playoff start, allowing just one earned run on three hits over 4.0 innings of work in Game 4 of the ALDS against the Rays.
The Yankees had their backs against the walls that night, facing elimination against their AL East Rivals. Manager Aaron Boone had enough confidence in the man they call Gumby to give him the ball, and Montgomery delivered a solid performance as the Yankees went on to a 5-1 win.
“Excitement,” Montgomery replied when asked about his emotions from that October night. “Built up for three years, really, to finally get there and coming off of (Tommy John surgery), really happy it finally happened. Was really excited. A lot of pressure to go out there and give our team a chance to win, and I’m glad I did.
“There was definitely added excitement and adrenaline. Just fun to be out there again.”
The Yankees have a bonafide ace at the top of their rotation in Gerrit Cole, but there are plenty of question marks after him, with Luis Severino coming off his own Tommy John surgery and Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton free agents.
There’s a lot of hype around young prospects Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt, and Michael King, but there are also still plenty of unknowns there.
Montgomery could prove to be the steadying force in the middle of the Yankees’ rotation, and if 2020 is any indication, he seems to be growing more confident every time he takes the hill.