The Cardinal struck a deal with the New York Yankees to acquire left-footed pitcher Jordan Montgomery. The deal returned Harrison Bader to the Yankees.
Here are five facts about the new card shooter:
Yankee career
Drafted into the fourth round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Yankees, the South Carolina alum played his entire six-year career with the club.
In those six years, the 29-year-old left-hander set a career record of 22-20 with 3.94 ERAs in 502 runs over 97 starts. This season, southpaw hit a record 3-3 in 21 games with 97 strikes. He’s entered the sixth inning or deeper 11 times this season.
tall and skinny
At 6 feet 6 feet tall, Montgomery stands tall on the hill, earning him the nickname “jumbi” while in college. When he was a freshman, a senior noticed his long limbs and apparent lack of coordination and gave him the nickname referring to the 1950s green Claymation character.
The left-handed initially indicated that he was not fond of the title but admitted that it has grown on it over time.
Despite this, that tall frame barely scores on the Cardinals. Not only will he be the tallest player on the team, but he won’t be the tallest pitcher. Adam Wainwright continues to have that honor, standing at 6 feet 7.
globe jar
Montgomery is a classic floorball player as it comes, kicking balls 47.1% of the time. Like many other bowlers who are ball specialists, it uses a sinker to create a downward movement and force hitters to jump over balls. When throwing this diver, hitters hit only .28, compared to .357 when he throws a traditional four-stitch fastball.
However, don’t expect this sinker to get many hitters. The puff rate on that plunger is just 19%, which is the lowest of any of his primary rams and the lowest of any jar he uses.
Drop the slider, pick up the cutter
Starting in the 2020 season, Montgomery chose to move away from using his slider and instead switch to using a fast-cutting ball.otherwise known as the cutter. Pitches do similar things: They both move away from the side of the bowler’s arm, but the cutter tends to enter at a higher speed and sharper, albeit lower motion.
Since making this change, Montgomery has lowered his ERA year after year as his total stroke has increased. In 2019, the year before the new stadium was approved, he owned a 6.75 ERA. In the 2020 season cut short by the pandemic, he cut it to 5.11 before seeing the biggest drop in the 2021 season, gaining a 3.83 ERA. So far, in 2022, Gumby has a 3.69 ERA, the lowest in his career.
While this cutter is one of the least used pitches now, it has been effective when he has used it, having only allowed four strokes in 103 uses this season.
jump to senior Circuit
Having played in the American Eastern League his entire career, the jump to NL Central might be a welcome change of scenery. AL East was one of the most dangerous divisions this year for shooters, which allowed AL East teams to hit a combined 612 home runs for a 4.26 ERA.
Montgomery is largely expected to go head-to-head against his National League rivals, so it may be worth getting a break from the players in the junior circuit. In 13 career starts against NL, Montgomery has been usable. He has a 5-5 record across four seasons of data, throwing 65 innings and allowing 4.25 ERAs.
In 2022, it performed better than average; In two starts, Montgomery has a 3.86 ERA with eight strokes. Initially against the Chicago Cubs in June, Southpaw threw seven innings, not allowing any rounds in a 2-1 win.
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