Oakland Athletics: Power ranking each member of the starting rotation
By Justin Fried
2. Frankie Montas
One of the better success stories of what has been a tough 2019 for the A’s so far has been that of starter Frankie Montas. Montas currently hosts a 2.78 ERA at the time of writing through his first eight starts this season.
What’s perhaps been most encouraging, however, has been his drastically improved K/BB ratio.
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The 26-year-old is currently sporting a ratio of around 3.88 strikeouts per every walk which is significantly better than his 2.04 total from last season. He’s striking out hitters at a higher rate and seems to have much more control of his pitches.
One of those pitches has been his newly developed splitter which has turned into his go-to “out” pitch. Opposing batters have a miss rate of around 40% when he throws that pitch, by far the most out of any of the pitches in his arsenal.
His work with pitching coach Scott Emerson has clearly paid off as Montas looks like a completely different pitcher and looks well on his way to becoming a mainstay in the A’s rotation for years to come. However, he isn’t the starter who has been the most impressive as of late.