Ignoring Yankees’ advice has Jordan Montgomery thriving: ‘Pinstripes are heavy’

The way Jordan Montgomery sees it, the lifting of multiple burdens has helped him thrive with the Cardinals after being traded by the Yankees before the deadline.

The southpaw no longer has to deal with the pressure of merely being a Yankee, nor does he have the Yankees telling him not to throw his fastball anymore.

“I was always worried about getting booed off the mound in New York,” Montgomery said recently on CC Sabathia’s and Ryan Ruocco’s “R2C2” podcast. “The pinstripes are heavy. Not everyone can handle it. I feel like I handled it OK. I could’ve been better, but there was a lot of things going into that I guess. But here [in St. Louis], I’m just being myself and pitching the way I want to. I guess the fans have kind of embraced me so far.”

Montgomery, who’s scheduled to pitch Tuesday against the Brewers in St. Louis, is 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA in seven starts with the Cardinals after going 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 21 starts with the Yankees earlier this season. The 29-year-old had a career 3.94 ERA in 98 appearances (97 starts) as a Yankee.

His first start as a Cardinal came against the Yankees in St. Louis, where he threw five shutout innings in a 1-0 win. Six of his seven Cardinals starts have come at home.

Montgomery said the Yankees weren’t fans of his fastball, but now it’s become one of his strengths.

“I didn’t really have much faith in my heater at the Yankees,” Montgomery said. “I had been told that it wasn’t that good compared to my other pitches and if I was gonna get hit, it was gonna be on a curveball or changeup, which isn’t how you can pitch.

“So if I got two strikes on a guy, he was probably auto-taking because I was gonna throw a curveball or a changeup. He was trying to just foul a changeup off or see a curveball down. I’m throwing my fastball in two-strike counts, I’m throwing anything in any count now, so it’s definitely opened up.”

Montgomery said he would “absolutely” push back regarding his fastball usage.

“But then I would miss a spot and give up a homer because I never threw my four-seamer in, so there was really no consistent feel of it, and I’d leak middle or I wouldn’t have any confidence in it,” he said. “I’m thinking, ‘all right, I’m throwing this not to give up a hit’ instead of, ‘I’m gonna throw this and blow your doors off.’ So now it’s just a whole different aggressive mindset where I’m the guy, I’m a dog on the mound and I’m just coming right after everybody.”

The Yankees did treat Montgomery well, he said, and he believed he was going to be a Yankee for life.

“When you come up homegrown they take care of you, and not everyone can pitch in Yankee Stadium,” Montgomery said. “We traded for Sonny Gray and that didn’t work out well; we traded for Joey Gallo, that didn’t work out well. When you trade for someone and they pitch in New York, you never know how it’s gonna work out. I kind of felt safe and thought I was gonna be there forever, or at least for a few more years.”