Yanks' Montgomery to have TJ surgery
TORONTO -- The Yankees' ongoing search for starting pitching picked up urgency on Tuesday after the club announced that left-hander Jordan Montgomery has been scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow.
The 25-year-old Montgomery will have the procedure performed by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad on Thursday at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Recovery time for the surgery is typically 12 to 18 months.
Montgomery has been sidelined since the beginning of May with a flexor strain in his left elbow. He experienced stiffness while throwing on flat ground during the team's weekend series in Baltimore, then returned to New York for an MRI on Monday morning.
"I'm obviously disappointed for Monty, but at least he gets some answers now and knows he'll be in really good hands," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Get through the surgery and start that rehab process. I talked to him today and he's in pretty good spirits considering, so we'll just give him the best support we can and look forward to him getting back at some point."
The southpaw began the season with a 2-0 record and a 3.62 ERA over his first six starts, one year after placing sixth in American League Rookie of the Year Award voting when he recorded a 3.88 ERA over 29 starts.
Montgomery had shown solid potential in his first season-plus in the Majors, particularly in his ability to get hitters to chase his offspeed pitches out of the zone.
Rookie right-hander Domingo German has filled Montgomery's place in the rotation. Since firing six hitless innings in his first Major League start against the Indians on May 6, German has gone 0-3 with an 8.14 ERA in four starts against the Athletics, Rangers, Astros and Tigers.
German said that he could sympathize with Montgomery, having undergone Tommy John surgery himself in 2015.
"When something like that happens to you, the first thing that comes to your mind is that your career is going to be over," German said through an interpreter. "You feel sad about that. Once you get the operation done and you start throwing, you have to believe in yourself.
"You have to have a tough mind, really positive thinking after you start throwing. It's what's going to get you through the whole process. It's never easy, but you have to keep your head high and you have to look forward to the future and try to recuperate as soon as possible."
Though Chance Adams, Josh Rogers and Justus Sheffield are among those garnering attention at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, general manager Brian Cashman has said that pitching is the Yankees' top priority as they approach the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline, suggesting that the team plans to look beyond its help on the farm.
Some possible trade targets bandied about in media reports have included Chris Archer of the Rays, Madison Bumgarner of the Giants, Patrick Corbin of the D-backs, Michael Fulmer of the Tigers and Cole Hamels of the Rangers, though most or all of those names would require significant packages from the Yankees' system.
"The organization and Cash are constantly trying to find the best ways to always be proactive, always put our organization in the best position to be successful," Boone said. "That never stops."
It's a date
Boone was pleased to learn that ESPN reversed course on Tuesday, restoring the July 8 contest against the Blue Jays to a 1:07 p.m. ET start. ESPN will air the Angels-Dodgers game instead on Sunday Night Baseball, freeing the Yankees for an earlier flight from Toronto to Baltimore, where New York will play the Orioles in a 4:05 p.m. ET doubleheader on July 9.
"I'm excited to hear that. I'm glad," Boone said. "I think the Commissioner was very involved. I'm just really grateful to him and to ESPN and to the Yankees and all the people involved that I think clearly ended up doing the right thing here, considering the product and player safety and all those kinds of things."
Court is in recess
Aaron Judge was out of the Yankees' lineup on Tuesday, one day after he was 0-for-9 with eight strikeouts in New York's doubleheader split against the Tigers in Detroit. Judge, who described it as a "terrible day," had appeared in all 56 of the Yankees' games prior to Tuesday.
"I talked to him about this probably before we went on this road trip, just with the stretch of games and a doubleheader mixed in there," Boone said. "I've talked to you guys a lot about trying to pick a day here for everyone, and the fact that we rode him through a doubleheader, I just felt like today -- getting in late, onto the turf, he's been a guy that obviously I've leaned on a lot. I just felt like it was a good time."
This date in Yankees history
June 5, 2006: The Yankees routed Josh Beckett and the Red Sox, 13-5, posting a seven-run second inning that featured a pair of three-run homers by Jason Giambi and Andy Phillips.