PORT ST. LUCIE — It’s not how Frankie Montas wanted to start his tenure on a new team.
The right-hander felt something in the back of his tricep when throwing his first bullpen with the Mets last week, which turned out to be a high-grade lat strain. Montas will be out for the first few months of the season, shut down from throwing for 6-8 weeks, then needing another 6-8 weeks to build up to regular-season form.
Montas received a platelet rich plasma injection in New York on Tuesday before returning to Port St. Lucie. The hope is that the regenerative injection can speed up the healing process.
“They’re taking every right step to deal with this,” Montas said Wednesday morning at Clover Park. “Can say I got a PRP shot yesterday. It’s already feeling pretty good. Just got to let that thing work and just jump into this rehab so I can come back as soon as possible.”
There hadn’t been any indication that anything was wrong before that. The 31-year-old right-hander had a normal offseason and was right on track for where he would usually be at the start of spring.
Montas was looking forward to a healthy season in New York, where he didn’t exactly make the impression the first time he played in the city with the Yankees. The Oakland A’s traded him to the Yankees in 2022, and after seven starts in pinstripes, most of which were lackluster, he was placed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. Montas made one more start in September, but then needed surgery the following spring, which wiped out nearly his entire 2023 season. He made one start in 2023, which marked the end of his time in the Bronx.
Montas started last season with the Cincinnati Reds before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, where he learned to trust his arm again and saw some good results.
“Definitely a lot of frustration,” Montas said. “I had a smooth offseason — a healthy offseason, I would say. To come here and have that happen, I’m bummed out.”
Montas is hoping to return in May, but the Mets aren’t ready to put a timeline on him yet. The team still plans to use a six-man rotation, with right-handers Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill competing for the fifth and sixth spots. Former Mets lefty Jose Quintana is still available as a free agent, but the Mets don’t seem particularly interested in signing another pitcher.
“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Montas said.