Jordan Montgomery Takes the First Step Towards Redemption

Pitching out of the bullpen for only the second time in his career, Montgomery had a mixed but overall positive outing.

Aug 27, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jordan Montgomery in the fifth inning against the New York Mets at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu was the first to utter the phrase "A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step."

Making just the second relief appearance of his career Tuesday night, Jordan Montgomery may have taken the first step in a redemptive journey, during an 8-3 loss to the New York Mets at Chase Field.

It's been the most difficult season of his career. Signed on March 29th, one day after the season started, he did not have a proper spring training. He began his season off well enough, with two effective starts, but it was mostly down hill after that.

Montgomery compiled a 6.44 ERA in 19 starts. He'd given up six runs or more in six starts and had only six quality starts. Thanks to tremendous run support he had an 8-6 record, but his outings were non-competitive almost half the time.

I wrote an opinion piece on August 22nd stating it was time to move Montgomery to the bullpen. Torey Lovullo agreed, announcing the move one day later.

To Montgomery's credit, he took the demotion like a professional, and immediately sought to figure out his new role. "He hasn't complained about it one time." Lovullo said. "The day I had my meeting with him, he was in the bullpen asking questions and learning."

Prior to the game Montgomery said "This will be a first, I've done it one time, just try and stay as loose as I can down there, and whenever my name is called get the arm moving and execute pitches and be ready."

His first opportunity came about in the toughest situation possible. A struggling Brandon Pfaadt had left the bases loaded with two outs and the D-backs already trailing 5-0. Lovullo was perhaps late a batter or two to make the call to the bullpen, and when he finally did, Montgomery had to get ready quickly.

Montgomery's starting routine typically takes over 30 minutes. Last night he had to be ready in about six. " I tried moving around, I threw some plyo balls to keep my arm going. I did all this before. I kind of had a feeling I was gonna get going. Threw a couple, got the catcher down, probably threw 15, and then got out there. "

Things got off to a very rough start. Feeling a bit too "amped up", he said, the first pitch was a spiked curveball that bounced in front of Tyrone Taylor's back foot. Originally ruled a ball, the Mets challenged and the call was changed to hit by pitch, forcing home a run.

A walk and a rare fielding error from Geraldo Perdomo followed, allowing two more runs to score, putting the Mets up 8-0. All of the six runs in the inning were charged to Pfaadt.

Montgomery settled down from there however. He threw four scoreless to finish out the game in which the Diamondbacks eventually lost 8-3. He induced several ground balls, his velocity on the sinker was around his season average, (91.7 compared to 93.3 last year) and he induced swing and miss with his curve and change up. He allowed five hits and struck out two.

After the game Montgomery was asked how the outing felt overall. "It felt good. It happened fast, I tried to get ready as quickly as I could. Went out there a little too amped up, but I guess it could have gone worse."

"I got some ground balls which was good, the velo was getting a little better, I just hung a couple curveballs to lefties for hits, but bury those and I'm pretty happy with it.

Lovullo looked for the silver lining. "Once he got through that first inning I thought he did a good job of attacking the zone. It was 4.1 [innings], 70 pitches. Did his job the way we wanted him to his job. I'm very proud of him for making the adjustment and figuring it out."

Montgomery for his part is determined to make the best of the situation. "I want to help the team any way I can. We're in a pennant race and if I can be the long man and maybe turn myself into a leverage arm, get us some big outs, be a difference maker that way, that's just what I'll do this year."

The D-backs have been without a long man in the bullpen ever since Logan Allen was DFA'd on June 9th. Lovullo spoke about the importance of having a pitcher who can fill that role.

"We haven't had that in a while. We've been running full throttle with seven guys down there. So that's exactly what a long man will give you. He will preserve your bullpen, we're fully gassed up for tomorrow ready to go. It's a big moment for us."

By throwing 70 pitches that allowed Montgomery to stay stretched out. Lovullo was asked if there was a pathway for Montgomery to rejoin the rotation. "It could be for sure. I explained that to him.........anything can happen."

The D-backs are in a tight race for the Postseason, and every game, every inning matters at this point.

"I'm going to be paying attention to everybody's performance. Knock on wood we're going to avoid injuries, but this is a competitive game. This point of time in the year the best players are going to get the most reps. I want him to continue to do what he did today. "

Montgomery seems to have the right mindset towards the potential journey back to a starting role. "Baseball is weird, you never know what can happen. Just stay ready and keep working hard every day."

One step at a time. Perhaps this was the first step in what hopefully won't be a 1000 mile journey for Montgomery and the Arizona Dianmondbacks.