Jordan Montgomery shares how Yankees misused him

Sep 2, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery (48) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

There was perhaps no trade deadline deal that has had more of an impact this season than the St. Louis Cardinals-New York Yankees trade that sent Jordan Montgomery to St. Louis.

The day of the August 2 deadline, the Yankees dealt Montgomery to the Cardinals for Harrison Bader. Bader was injured at the time of the trade, and the outfielder has just now begun a rehab assignment in the minors. Meanwhile, Montgomery has been the best pitcher in MLB since the trade. He is 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA in seven starts with St. Louis.

The southpaw pitcher appeared in an interview with the “R2C2” podcast between Ryan Ruocco and CC Sabathia last week. In the interview, Montgomery shared how the Yankees mishandled him. Apparently the Yankees told Montgomery he didn’t have a very good fastball, and limited his use of the pitch.

“I didn’t really have much faith in my heater at the Yankees,” Montgomery said during his interview. “I’d been told that it wasn’t that good compared to my other pitches, and if I was gonna get hit, it was gonna be on a curveball or a changeup, which isn’t how you can pitch.”

We had to get @GumbyNation34’s raw reaction to the Yankees trade and how unleashing his fastball has led to early domination with the Cardinals. Full episode is live! 📺🎧 pic.twitter.com/0a4lt9d4gc

— R2C2 (@R2C2) September 8, 2022

Montgomery said that opposing hitters knew he would only throw slow stuff with two strikes, so they could take those pitches. He also says he’s now more aggressive and able to pitch inside with his fastball, which the Yankees discouraged for him.

Well this is intresting… Jordan Montgomery:

“I’ve got a good fastball,” Montgomery said. “They trust me here. The Yankees didn’t … didn’t want me throwing fastballs.”

His 4-seam went from 4.8% usage with NYY to 31.4% with Cardinals.

FB is generating .132 BA so far 🤔

— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) September 8, 2022

Despite feeling like the Yankees misused him, Montgomery says the Yankees treated him well.

“The Yankees were good to me for seven years,” Montgomery said. “I always thought I was going to be a Yankee lifer.”

Now, Montgomery has a new home with St. Louis, and things are going quite well there.