Frankie Montas says he wasn’t ‘fully 100%’ when traded to the Yankees, vows to return this season

The Yankees bought damaged goods with a no-return policy.

Frankie Montas came over to the Bronx in a trade with the Oakland A’s in July of last season. However, the 29-year-old was not at full strength as he was nursing a shoulder injury.

“I wasn’t fully 100 percent,” Montas told reporters Wednesday morning at the Yankees spring complex in Tampa. “I was trying to pitch through it. Of course, I got traded to a new team, I wanted to show what I can do.

“Things didn’t go the way I was expecting. But I’m here to try to help this team and go out there and show what I can really do when I’m healthy.”

It was clear Montas wasn’t the same pitcher after he donned the pinstripes as he struggled to a 6.35 ERA in eight starts with the Yankees.

The shoulder discomfort continued throughout the offseason and ultimately led to his Feb. 21 surgery.

If all goes well, Montas could return at some point during the second half of 2023. The righty is in the midst of a 12-week shutdown before he can begin a throwing program. Montas has no doubts that he will pitch this season.

“Oh yeah, no doubt, I’ll for sure be back this season,” Montas said Wednesday. “[Shoulder surgery] was a thing I had to take care of, I don’t have control of it. Of course, trust me, I’m one of the guys that wants to be out there pitching right now and showing what I can do. But things didn’t work out that way, so just trying to rehab and come back so I can help with whatever they want me to do.”

At the time of the trade that sent Ken Waldichuck, Luis Medina, JP Sears and Cooper Bowman to Oakland, Montas was considered one of the top two pitchers available — along with Luis Castillo who was traded from the Reds to the Mariners.

Montas made his last start for the Yankees on Sept. 16 in Milwaukee against the Brewers before being shut down due to “shoulder inflammation.” The Dominican native briefly returned to throw one inning out of the bullpen in Game 1 of the ALCS at Minute Maid Park in Houston where he immediately surrendered a homer to Jeremy Pena.

Prior to the trade that brought the hard-throwing starter to the Yankees, he was dominant as the ace of the A’s. In 2021, he registered a 3.37 ERA in 32 starts topping out at triple-digits with his fastball featuring a whiteout splitter. Even closer to the date of the transaction, Montas owned a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts just before the Aug. 2 deadline.

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