D-Backs 3, Giants 9: Monty’s No Good Very Bad Start

When the D-Backs signed Jordan Montgomery back on March 26, they were likely hoping that he would provide something akin to his performance in a Cardinals uniform when he was both durable (making 32 starts over parts of two seasons) and effective (3.31 ERA and 1.19 WHIP). Or maybe they were hoping for the emotionally-charged effectiveness he displayed in the World Series against them just six months ago. Instead, through nine starts they’ve gotten one of his least effective performances in his career. It’s also just not the topline numbers - though they aren’t pretty either - as a 6.80 ERA and 1.73 WHIP won’t win any awards. There are some worrying signs on the underlying numbers too: Montgomery has a career-worst K rate, Whiff rate, and Fastball velocity so far this year. To some degree, it’s immaterial why this is happening - though there are plenty of hypotheses including the lack of a full spring training, fatigue from the World Series run, and just plain age or regression. What matters is where Montgomery and the D-Backs go from here.

I don’t want to heap the blame for this loss solely on Montgomery. Just as there are numerous possible reasons for his performance to this point, there is a wealth of culprits that were involved in this demoralizing loss. While baseball is often presented as a series of individual efforts, it is still a team sport and the rest of the D-Back squad, both on the mound and at the plate, couldn’t pick him up. There were however, warning signs almost immediately as Montgomery worked into and out of a jam from the jump. The Giants put two runners on through a Heliot Ramos walk and Thairo Estrada single before Matt Chapman grounded out to advance both runners into scoring position. Montgomery stranded both runners by striking out slugger Jorge Soler, but it was certainly a more action-packed first inning than you would prefer if you’re a D-Backs fan. The D-Backs would not waste their own scoring opportunity in the home half of the first as Corbin Carroll had a leadoff single, advanced to second on a disengagement violation from Jordan Hicks, and scored on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr single for a 1-0 D-Backs lead. Encouragingly, the D-Backs scored first in all three matchups against the Giants despite today’s loss.

It would be just one of two hits with runners in scoring position the D-Backs would have all afternoon.

Unfortunately, Montgomery was less lucky in the third and he would fail to record a single out in the inning as the Giants hung a six-spot on him. In order, he allowed a single, homer, single, walk, single, grand slam, and single before finally yielding to Logan Allen. With the exception of the final single from Mike Yastrzemski, they were all hard hit balls as Montgomery completely failed to fool any of the Giants’ batters. By the end of the sequence, the Giants had taken a decisive 6-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish and an already overtaxed Arizona bullpen was called upon to once again cover nearly two-thirds of a game. It was an impressive display from the San Francisco offense as they had slashed a middling .219/.287/.337 in their six-game losing streak heading into this game and been outscored by 20 runs over that period.

Despite the overuse, the Arizona bullpen compiled a decent performance with seven innings of three-run ball on seven hits and three walks. I was especially impressed with Allen and Bryce Jarvis who managed to cover five innings of scoreless work between them and gave the offense the barest opportunity to get back into the game. Unfortunately, while the bats were able to chip away at the lead with a solo homer from Pavin Smith and a run-scoring walk from Joc Pederson, they never were able to muster the decisive hit that could fully ignite the comeback. For the game, the D-Backs’ offense only managed a miserly 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and they left an impressive 12 runners on base to leave use with the tantalizing possibility of a comeback throughout. The only weak link in the bullpen chain came in the form of Brandon Hughes who allowed for the final tack on runs in the eighth and ninth, but the outcome already felt preordained by that point.

In so many ways, this game was a return to all the frustrating play this D-Backs squad had demonstrated through the first two months of the season: there were mental errors, inconsistent bullpen work, and an inability to find the big hit in clutch situations. Even after all the encouraging signs the club had exhibited during their brief four-game winning streak, this game brought many of those positive vibes to a screeching halt. It takes a particularly fortuitous person to sit through such a frustrating game and that’s exactly what my parents did - and they deserve a shoutout for it! Still, despite the histrionics about their record, the D-Backs find themselves a measly game and a half out of a wild card spot and in the macro sense could just as easily be in the playoff picture with a hot month. I will continue to hold out hope until proven wrong!