NEW YORK (AP) — The Yankees bolstered their pitching for the stretch run and playoffs, obtaining starter Frankie Montas and reliever Lou Trivino from the Oakland Athletics on Monday for four prospects.
Montas, a 29-year-old right-hander, is 4-9 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 starts, including a 2.76 ERA since the start of May. He has 109 strikeouts and 28 walks in 104 2/3 innings.
“His level of talent, especially with how he’s pitched the last couple years, just excited to get him in the mix,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s got the full arsenal and stuff you look for top of the rotation guy. Gone out and proved last couple years he is that kind of caliber pitcher.
New York sent Oakland 26-year-old rookie left-hander J.P. Sears along with three minor leaguers: 24-year-old left-hander Ken Waldichuk, 23-year-old right-hander Luis Medina and 22-year-old infielder Cooper Bowman.
“I think we got three pitchers who are very close to if not already major league ready,” Oakland general manager David Forst said.
Earlier in the day, the Yankees got Scott Effross, a 22-year-old rookie reliever, from the Chicago Cubs for Hayden Wesneski, a 24-year-old minor league right-hander.
Montas has a 35-32 record with a 3.73 ERA for the Chicago White Sox (2015) and Oakand (2017-22). He was suspended for 80 games in June 2019 for a positive test for Ostarine, a banned performance-enhancing substance used to increase stamina. Montas attributed to the test result to a contaminated supplement he said was purchased over-the-counter at a nutrition store.
While the Yankees ended July an AL-best 69-34, they were 8-11 since July 8. Montas joins a rotation headed by All-Stars Gerrit Cole (9-3, 3.30 ERA) and Nestor Cortes (9-3, 2.53 ERA) that has faltered of late.
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery is 0-2…
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