SCOTTSDALE — Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jordan Montgomery arrived at spring training looking to put behind a down season after which he faced public criticism from his club’s owner.
To comments made by Arizona’s managing general partner Ken Kendrick on Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo calling Montgomery signing a horrible decision, the lefty said it does not have hurt feelings.
“It’s whatever,” Montgomery said on Thursday. “I’ve got two older brothers, so it’s not gonna hurt my feelings. I know my season wasn’t great, and I expect a lot of myself.”
No hurt feelings over what was said in October, just determination to get better for Diamondbacks pitcher Jordan Montgomery with spring training underway. pic.twitter.com/wCBYeoy0h4
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) February 13, 2025
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Montgomery entered camp in better physical shape, having dropped a “dumbbell,” he described. He lost 20-25 pounds, explaining he’s been this light earlier in his career.
“I was heavy with Texas, but I was throwing well so it was fine. It’s fine until it’s not,” Montgomery said.
“I just wasn’t really moving fast. I wasn’t really moving clean or synced up or really doing anything right out there. I was just kind of willing it to get there instead of it feeling close, so just want the mound to feel close.”
The 32-year-old did not tinker with any new pitches or change his throwing program this offseason, as his focus is on execution and regaining the right shapes with his current arsenal.
His sinker, for instance, which he leaned on heavily in a stout 2023 season, got crushed last year (.374 average, .577 slugging). Statcast’s run value metric evaluated it at 15 in 2023 and -16 in 2024. His ERA in 2023 was 3.20. Last year, it rose to 6.23.
“Sinkers should be dropping and be able to get to the bottom of the zone instead of throwing it through the top or having more run than it has sink, which really all just comes from getting out front,” Montgomery explained. “So just getting out front and being smooth.”
The veteran southpaw’s season started differently than normal having signed with Arizona after Cactus League had ended and starting in the minor leagues to ramp up.
He has not used that as an excuse publicly but said it is nice to have a more normal spring training with opportunities to bond with his catchers and other teammates.
“I’ve had a couple conversations with him this offseason … he talked to me about his commitment to being as ready as possible,” manager Torey Lovullo said on Wednesday. “I saw that he looked great … I feel like he is in a pretty good head space and ready to go out and show us what he is capable of doing.
“This is a fresh start. He’s walking into spring training getting to know his teammates, getting grounded, feeling at home and that’s very important for athletes.”
Montgomery banged up to start spring training
His routine, however, has been thrown off slightly, as he suffered an index finger strain during his most recent bullpen away from the facility, before pitchers and catchers reported.
“I’m not really worried about it, I don’t think anyone’s really worried about it,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery claimed he will start back up again in a couple days, saying he got imaging on it and there was not much concern.
Montgomery is confident he’ll be in the rotation
Given his dreadful 2024 season and a surplus of starting pitching — plus Lovullo mentioning the unlikelihood of using a six-man rotation — Montgomery was asked whether he feels he is in a competition for a starting spot.
“Probably not,” he replied. “I mean, that’s why I’m here for, they’re paying me a lot of money.”
Montgomery opted into a $22.5 million player option for this year, after which the Diamondbacks explored trades. Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brandon Pfaadt and Ryne Nelson are all starters on this team who would be in most-to-all rotations in MLB.
Lovullo said there is uncertainty with how the rotation will play out in six weeks.
“We’re gonna give everybody a fair shake at getting an opportunity, but we have some really good starting pitching in camp,” Lovullo said on Wednesday. “That’s one of the hard decisions we have to make.”
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