Brewers' Newly Acquired Pitcher Frankie Montas - Photo by MLB.com
MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) – The Milwaukee Brewers made a trade with the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night to acquire veteran starting pitcher Frankie Montas in hopes of helping their rotation get healthy and prepare for a playoff run.
The Cincinnati Reds sent Montas to the Brewers in exchange for pitcher Jakob Junis and outfielder Joey Wiemer, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. With a 4-8 record in 19 starts, a 5.01 ERA, and 78 strikeouts in 93.1 innings pitched, Montas has had a difficult season so far as he returns from shoulder surgery he had in February 2023.
“This is probably the toughest time that I’ve had leaving a clubhouse,” Montas said before the team announced the trade. “The relationships I created here (Cincinnati), and the way that they welcomed me in—not just me but my family and kids—it’s definitely tough,” but he continued by saying that going to a team currently in first place is “kind of like the cool part.”
According to Reviewing the Brew, the trade for Montas deserves a B, saying, “I give this trade a ‘B’ for the Brewers. It’s not the big, reliable rotation pickup that the Brewers were really needing. With other top arms like Jack Flaherty and Tyler Anderson still out there, making a move for someone a little more trusted would’ve been a nicer boost. Montas has an ERA north of 5.00 and has struggled in July, so this trade can’t be an ‘A’.”
Meanwhile, Bleacher Report also gave the deal a B, saying, “The 5.01 ERA is less attractive, not to mention hard to spin positively on account of the righty’s diminished strikeout and walk rates. Yet he’ll at least have a better defense behind him in Milwaukee. He’s going from the No. 21 team to the No. 4 team on the Outs Above Average leaderboard.”
Montas will be joining a rotation that has been led so far this season by pitcher Colin Rea, who leads the team in wins (9) and ERA (3.59) while they await the return of Joe Ross and DL Hall from injury, and the team hopes Freddy Peralta can get back to his 2023 form after struggling in the first half of 2024, going 6-6 with a 3.94 ERA.
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