Montgomery, Yankees pleased with his promising MLB debut

Jordan Montgomery had just one regret in the aftermath of his major league debut with the New York Yankees Wednesday afternoon.

In the first inning, he issued a two-out walk to Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria, tossing four straights balls after starting the at-bat with consecutive strikes.

Moments later, Rickie Weeks Jr. drive a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall for a two-run homer, giving the Rays a quick 2-0 lead.

The Yankees eventually rallied for an 8-4 victory (Montgomery got a no-decision), but his first-inning free pass to Longoria was foremost on the former Gamecock hurler's mind as far as being an essential early career teaching moment about life in the big leagues.

“I settled down after the first inning and tried to execute as many pitches as I could,” Montgomery told reporters in the Yankees clubhouse afterwards. “Two out walks always come back to get you. It was one of the things I’ll learn from and try to improve on from now on.”

Asked what he learned from his outing, Montgomery’s response was swift: “Not walking Longoria. That’s one of the key things I’ve going to take from this game for next time.”

Montgomery arrived at the Yankees clubhouse about four hours before the first pitch in an attempt to get settled early and “locked” into his routine.

His final numbers weren’t spectacular – 4.2 innings pitched, 5 hits, 3 runs, 7 strikeouts, 2 walks – but they were likewise far from shabby for a pitcher making his MLB debut.

“It was a good outing,” Montgomery said. “It could have been worse, it could have been better. We won as a team, and that’s all you can really do. I would like to go five, six or seven innings next time. The team won, so I can’t complain about it.”

While Montgomery lamented the two-out walk to Longoria, Yankees manager Joe Girardi was impressed with his young pitcher, pleased he showed some chutzpah in working out of trouble following Weeks’ homer.

Montgomery responded to adversity well, retiring four Tampa Bay batters in a row after the long ball before fanning Longoria and Weeks in the top of the third with two runners on base.

Montgomery was lifted in the top of the fifth mainly due to pitch count. The most pitches he had thrown in spring training was 77. Wednesday, he threw 89 (61 for strikes).

Relying on a four-pitch mix, Tampa Bay batters swung and missed at 17 of Montgomery’s pitches.

“I thought he did a pretty good job,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Montgomery. “I didn’t think he had great command of his fastball today, but I thought he did a really good job of pitching out of some jams. They had a number of opportunities to score, and they just scored really in that first inning in a sense. I’m pretty pleased with what he did for the first start. There's a lot of emotions that go into that."

Montgomery’s reward for his promising outing? He’ll remain the Yankees No. 5 starter for the time being.

Yankee catcher Kyle Higashioka, also making his MLB debut, caught Montgomery at the Class AA and AAA levels, so the battery mates were extremely familiar with each other, undoubtedly helping put Montgomery at ease on the mound.

“He was incredible,” Higashioka said of Montgomery. “One pitch got them two runs, but he was in a good rhythm throughout the game working all his pitches. His quality definitely showed today. There were definitely a lot of good signs.”

Montgomery’s ascension from prosperous minor league pitcher (he was named the Yankees’ 2016 Prospect of the Year) to major league starter began in training camp when he impressed the Yankees brass with his moxie and uncanny ability to get major league hitters out.

Given little chance of earning a spot on the Yankees roster when spring training began in late February, Montgomery first caught Girardi’s eye in mid-March with a string of impressive performances, and the manager waited until the Yankees needed the services of a fifth starter before calling upon the Sumter, S.C. native.

“He uses a fourth pitch mix with a very good downhill angle,” Girardi said. “He’s 6-6, he’s left-handed and he is able to use his breaking ball extremely well. His change-up is good. When he locates his fastball, it’s really good. His stuff is good. He has run to his fastball on the first base side. He has different ways he can get you out.”