Here's What the Cincinnati Reds Need From Frankie Montas Following Stint on Injured List

Montas has shown some bounce back potential, but needs to improve in an important area.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Frankie Montas (47), center, talks with teammates pitcher Andrew Abbott / Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY

Frankie Montas returns to the mound on Tuesday night for the Cincinnati Reds after missing a couple of starts after being hit by a line drive last month. The team officially activated him from the injured list on Tuesday afternoon.

Montas's first five starts have been a bit of a mixed bag. He’s looked good at times, while other times he’s labored. As he heads into his sixth start on Tuesday, there are a few trends that should continue and a few that need turned around.

Thus far in 2024, Montas has been above average at limiting hard contact. The average exit velocity against him is 87.7, right around a mile an hour below the league line. With that, he’s held steady with a decent ground ball rate. If he can keep that up, good things should follow. 

Something Montas needs to reverse right now is his ability to miss bats. He’s well below league average with his strikeout rate and the biggest reason for that is a well below average whiff rate. Contrary to what some may think, you do need to miss barrels and bats to be an ace. 

Montas has a chance to revive his career in Cincinnati this year, but he will need to start the turn around soon. 

The Reds have lost five-straight games. They'd love for the veteran to guide them to victory on Tuesday night.

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