When the Yankees dealt Montgomery to the St. Louis Cardinals last summer in exchange for Harrison Bader and a walking boot to be named later, the left-hander found an eager teacher in Maddux, employed as the Cardinals' pitching coach at the time. Maddux had watched Monty and recommended that he emphasize his fastball, a pitch that the Yankees coaching staff wasn't enamored by. He also recommended that his curveball remain his focus, as opposed to the cutter the Yankees preferred he use.
The results were nearly immediate; Montgomery posted a 3.11 ERA for the Cards last summer after finishing his time in the Bronx with a 3.69 mark. He pitched well again in 2023 in St. Louis (3.42 ERA), but the offense didn't match the tone he set, as the team fell into the NL Central. He was dealt again at the deadline, this time to Texas -- where, luck would have it, Maddux had landed after leaving the Cardinals at the end of the 2023 season.
Montgomery, who Brian Cashman didn't envision as a factor in the Yankees' 2022 postseason rotation, completed his fourth career playoff start without a loss on Sunday night, shutting out the Astros over 6.1 innings while whiffing Yordan Alvarez three times. After the game, Alex Rodriguez asked Monty on the FOX postgame, with a knowing wink, about how it felt to show "some people" who thought he didn't belong in the playoffs.
[
yanksgoyard.com]
