Mets' Frankie Montas out for season with 'significant' UCL injury

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Aug 23, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ATLANTA — A turbulent season for Frankie Montas has come to a premature end. The right-hander has a “significant” ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow, and will be out for the rest of the season. Tommy John or an internal brace procedure is likely, which would also sideline him for 2026 as well.

The Mets placed him on the 15-day injured list and called up right-hander Huascar Brazobán from Triple-A Syracuse.

“It’s hard for him, he was pretty devastated yesterday when he found out,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Saturday at Truist Park. “Rightfully so, it’s been a hard year for him since spring training when he went down. He put a lot of time into rehabbing, came back, didn’t have the results he wanted or we wanted.”

Montas signed a two-year contract for $34 million guaranteed in December, with a player option for 2026 to add depth to the rotation, but an early-spring lat strain had him out of action until late June. When he returned, he wasn’t able to give the Mets what they needed, going 3-2 with a 6.68 ERA over seven starts before being moved to the bullpen. In nine appearances this season, he posted a 6.28 ERA with a 5.31 FIP.

Moving to a long relief role wasn’t ideal for a career starter. A 32-year-old in his 10th Major League season, Montas still sees himself as a starter, but he badly wanted to contribute, and understood that he wasn’t helping the team as a starter. He made only two appearances out of the bullpen this month, his first relief outings since 2023 with the Yankees. Prior to that, he hadn’t pitched out of the bullpen since 2018.

Still, he was eager to adapt to the role.

“At the end of the day, I just like to help,” Montas told the New York Daily News earlier this week. “If that’s where they think I can help the most, I’ll go to the bullpen happily because I’m going to have an opportunity.”

The injury could be the reason his stuff wasn’t playing as it did last year in Cincinnati and Milwaukee. The velocity was still there, but his pitches weren’t as effective. When he threw stuff in the zone, more often than not, it was hit.

“Maybe having an injury like that affected him with his secondary pitches,” Mendoza said. “He didn’t feel anything. It was just more like soreness the past couple of times.”

Montas complained of soreness in his lower bicep after his last start Aug. 3. He warmed up in the bullpen in Washington on Thursday but the Mets didn’t use him. Friday in Atlanta, he complained of soreness in the same spot, and it remained after he played catch. It was then that the Mets sent him for imaging.

Initially, there was little concern because of the location of the injury, so the results were somewhat surprising. Montas will seek more opinions to confirm a diagnosis and determine the best course of action. The player option gives him security, but for the Mets, it only makes the contract look worse.

Montas was a reclamation project of sorts, much like Sean Manaea and Luis Severino were last season, and Clay Holmes and Griffin Canning were this season. President of baseball operations David Stearns has filled out the rotation this way two winters in a row, finding pitchers who are undervalued on the market and hoping to exploit those undervalued assets.

Montas previously had shoulder surgery with the Yankees, limiting him to only one appearance in 2023.

Despite the bloated ERA, Montas felt he still had more to give this season, and was grateful the Mets believed in him enough to let him pitch in any capacity.

“It means a lot — I mean it means that they believe in my talent,” Montas said. “They believe in the guy that they signed. I don’t see stuff like that as a failure, I see that as a way to come out and get better, working on whatever I’ve got to work on and proving that to the guys who are here.

“I still have a lot of fight on me.”

Staying on turn

There are no plans to insert a sixth starter for the current 16-game stretch, but Mendoza cautioned that those plans are fluid. Right-hander Tylor Megill (elbow sprain) will make at least one more rehab start before the Mets activate him. That keeps the current five on regular rest the next turn through the rotation.

Megill threw 5.0 innings for Triple-A Syracuse on Friday night, giving up five hits with no runs, walking two and striking out four. He threw 65 pitches.

Trainer’s room

Jeff McNeil (sore right shoulder) returned to the lineup Saturday, batting fifth and playing second base against the Atlanta Braves. The Mets are still trying to schedule off-days for him to ease the shoulder soreness.

Outfielder Brandon Nimmo (neck soreness) remained out for the second straight game, but he’s trending in the right direction, able to run and hit in the cages. Catcher Luis Torrens (bruised hand) is still sore, but able to come off the bench if needed.