Mike Montgomery’s Excellent First Start of the Year and the Possibility of Another

Given the last-minute nature of the start and the fact that both Yu Darvish (awaiting MRI results) and Tyler Chatwood (working on stuff) are both out of sorts at the moment, yesterday’s start was probably never going to be the last one for Mike Montgomery – at least, at this point in the 2018 season.

Of course, if he was completely blown up by the Pirates yesterday, the calls for someone like, say, Adbert Alzolay might’ve increased. But given his excellent performance (5.2 IP, 2H, 0BB, 0ER, 5Ks) I think it’s easy to see that Montgomery will be (and probably should be) first in line the next time a rotation spot is open.

Which, as it turns out, could very well be his next turn through the order:

So let’s take a closer look at his Memorial Day brilliance – starting with the highlights – and see what went right for the Cubs fill-in starter:

Mike Montgomery opened the game with 4.1 perfect innings, including four outs on the ground, three strikeouts, and six outs in the air. In fact, it wasn’t until there was one out in the fifth that he gave up his first hit – a dinky 72 MPH grounder – and that was immediately erased by a double play just three pitches later. And if you were counting at home, yes, that means that the Cubs fill-in starter faced the minimum through 5.0 innings yesterday.

After getting two outs in the sixth – having already thrown 76 pitches – Montgomery was finally lifted in favor of Steve Cishek, who finished out his inning with a three-pitch strikeout.

(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)

By Game Score, if you can believe it, Mike Montgomery’s 73 has not yet been beaten by Jon Lester or Yu Darvish this season. Meanwhile, Kyle Hendricks and Tyler Chatwood each posted a better score only once, while Jose Quintana has beaten it twice. Which means the short version goes something like: Mike Montgomery just made the fifth best start by a Cubs starter this season.

And he’s selfless, too! “I was just trying to make good pitches throughout and keep my mindset on giving this team as much innings as we could get,” Montgomery said. “Obviously, [Sunday] night and with the travel, the bullpen needed as much help as they could get, and I knew that. I was doing it for those guys.”

Montgomery also explained that pitching on Memorial Day was particularly important to him, because he has family members in active service. Perhaps, then, there was the little extra motivation to help him reach the next level, but whatever it was, it was impressive.

And both managers seemed to agree. Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle had nice things to say about Montgomery’s start, complimenting his change-up (which netted a fantastic six whiffs) and cutter, in particular. While Joe Maddon said he was “outstanding” and didn’t expect that much length out of him. All in all, Montgomery recorded 11 whiffs on the day, the second-most coming from his curveball (3), while operating around 93-94 MPH with his fastball.

When you can work-in five difference pitches with that hard of a fastball and that good of a change-up, you’re going to be successful. And that’s just what Montgomery did. Good for him and good for the Cubs. You can’t make any judgements on one single start, but I think it’s fair to say we’re all a little more at ease for his next start, whenever that is.

“I’ll be ready,” Montgomery said of another start. “I’ll prepare accordingly …. I keep the mindset of always going out there and proving something.” Sounds good to me.

written by

Michael Cerami began covering the Chicago Cubs for Bleacher Nation as a part-time contributor in 2015. One year later, he joined Bleacher Nation full-time, covering the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. Today, Michael runs Bleacher Nation, contributing as a writer (Cubs, MLB) and an editor for all sections of the site, including the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks, as well as MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL. In 2019, Michael was the co-host of NBC Sports Chicago's Cubs Post-Game Show Outside the Ivy. You can find him on Twitter/X @Michael_Cerami

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