4 years agoThere weren't many expectations for Montgomery last season, as he came into the year expecting his first full workload since undergoing Tommy John surgery during the 2018 season. While Montgomery's ERA last season was inflated at 5.11, there are still some encouraging things about his profile baked into the more advanced metrics. His FIP (3.87), xFIP (3.65), and SIERA (3.84) all suggest a different pitcher than what the ERA would lead you to believe. Notably, Montgomery's 24.4% strikeout rate easily trumped his 19.8% rate during his last extended run in 2018. Additionally, he also made improvements with his command. His walk rate was among the lowest in the league at 4.7%, primarily due to more fastballs ending up in the strike zone than in 2018 (53.5% vs. 48.4%). That being said, Montgomery still did have a home run issue last season, and that is something that may not go away with him pitching in the American League East. A high home run rate could cause him trouble, but the projections peg Montgomery with somewhere around a 4.20 ERA , which would definitely be valuable, especially at his current ADP in the neighborhood of pick 220. Playing time should not be an issue, as he should be pegged as the Yankees' number three starter. Overall, Montgomery needs to shore up the consistency, but he should be a nice late-round option at starting pitcher.--mwallach