Scouting Report: Mike Montgomery, LHP, Kansas City Royals
by John Sickels on Aug 22, 2011 2:01 PM EDT
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Mike Montgomery Scouting Report
I went up to Omaha this past weekend and saw the Stormchasers in action against the Nashville Sounds. Mike Montgomery pitched the Saturday game, and here are some observations on the Kansas City Royals prospect.
Montgomery seems to have smoothed out his delivery from the last time I saw him in the Arizona Fall League. He still has some noticeable stiffness with the way his right leg lands, but he was repeating his delivery fine in this game, at least from the second inning on. Montgomery went seven innings, allowing seven hits and four runs, walking one and fanning six. All four runs were given up in the first inning.
In that inning, Montgomery's fastball was 90-92 MPH, thrown high in the zone with little movement. His slider was flat, and he was telegraphing his curveball; you could tell it was going to be the curve before he released it. He was fooling nobody, his location was off, and he gave up the four runs. However, in the second inning, and for the rest of the game, he looked like a different pitcher. His fastball kicked up to 91-93, with life low in the strike zone. His slider got much sharper, he did a better job selling the curveball, and he mixed in some solid changeups.
A reader points out that Montgomery isn't supposed to throw a slider. Whatever he was trying to throw in the first inning looked like it was supposed to be a slider. Later in the game it looked to me like there were two distinct breaking balls, a traditional curve and something with more bite to it, but the reader is correct that a genuine slider isn't supposed to be in Montgomery's arsenal. A well-placed Royals source confirms that Montgomery isn't throwing a slider. I've gone ahead and left the report of what I saw as-is, but I figured I needed to point this out.
I think the game was a microcosm of Montgomery's entire season to date. He is 5-8, 5.33 in 138 innings for Omaha, with 114 strikeouts, 66 walks, and 139 hits allowed. He's had some outstanding starts and some terrible ones. At age 22 he still has plenty of time to gain consistency. I had him rated a Grade B+ pre-season. I don't know yet if I will drop him down to a Grade B, but it is possible.
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if he threw any sliders it'd be a first that i know of
R.I.P. cwhitman412, Frederick0220, & Mets2k9
http://twitter.com/doublestix
ok then
well it was something that looked like it was supposed to be a slider….low 80s, no movement, flat as hell. Later in the game this pitched looked better…hard curve?
by John Sickels on Aug 22, 2011 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions
It could be a slider John
The Royals have recently (seemingly) had a small revolution about pitchers and the way they do things. They are allowing players past A+ to throw the slider. There have been several players that have added it or gone back to it and it’s making a big difference for some of them.
If Montgomery has gotten his delivery smoothed up a bit there’s no reason to drop him in his ranking because he has absolutely filthy stuff when he is on. He’s been so inconsistent this year though which is why his results have been all over the place. I haven’t gotten to see him this year but last year he had the best pure stuff of any pitcher I saw all year. With a more repeatable and softer delivery, I would say there is only one place he can go. Up. And if that’s the case, his stuff will get nastier as he learns to be successful in the first inning.
i'm not necessarily saying you are wrong
just saying i’ve seen him 5 times this year and haven’t seen him throw this pitch. so if he’s throwing a slider it’s new.
R.I.P. cwhitman412, Frederick0220, & Mets2k9
http://twitter.com/doublestix
slider
I think I will ask around about this
by John Sickels on Aug 22, 2011 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Was his release point consistent?
Especially with the change in his breaking ball, he may be dropping to the side on his pitches when he is getting hit hard, and staying on top when he isn’t. Just an idea, and I have not seen him enough to know if it is valid.
release
I looked for that, and I couldn’t see any distinct visual difference between the first and later innings other than the quality of his pitches and better location. I’m assuming he made an adjustment of some kind. On video it would probably be easier to see
by John Sickels on Aug 22, 2011 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Monty's thing has always been staying back on top of the rubber (otherwise called "leaking")
When he does those things, he’s gold. When he leaks, he’s awful. I would guess he’s been working on it and he probably did a better job from the 2nd on staying back…. ?
rubber
I didn’t pay attention to his position on the rubber…I should have watched for that.
by John Sickels on Aug 22, 2011 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions
I ment more like
staying on top of the rubber as a gathering/balance point. Monty doesn’t stay on top well.
Fantasy question
16 teams with 10 man MiLB rosters. Should I hold on to Monty or grab another SP? Guys available are Nicolino, W. Peralta, Edwar Cabrera, Syndergaard, Hutchinson, Tyrell Jenkins and James Paxton but I’m on the fence if any of those guys are significant upgrades.
slider
I checked with a well-placed Royals source who says Montgomery (to his knowledge) has not added a slider. So I don’t know what he was working on in the first inning. Maybe a really bad changeup?
Another curve?
I have absolutely no inside knowledge, but…
I believe it was reported a few years ago that Monty has a strange curveball grip and that the Royals were trying to teach him a more traditional breaking ball. If so, perhaps he was using both grips?
I recall this.
I believe he was throwing a palm curveball that the Royals phased out after he was signed.
by hawkinscm87 on Aug 23, 2011 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions
well
Well whatever he was throwing in the first inning, it wasn’t working. He looked better after that. It sure looked to me like there were two different breaking balls involved, but my source doesn’t confirm this.
by John Sickels on Aug 23, 2011 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Question:
Isnt there an axiom about the problems with making an innings pitched jump of more than 40 from one season to another? Monty has now thrown 138 inn. 45 more than last year when he had a “forearm” issue that put the fear of god into KC bloggers everywhere. I can only assume they are going to shut him down fairly soon, which would rule out a Sept callup. I know they shutdown Noel Arguellas after 100 IP this year following his shoulder surgery last yr and have stated that Duffy has around 20 inn left before they do the same with him. Curious what others thought.
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