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Mike Montgomery is a weapon disguised as a busted-first-round-pick who’s numbers make most people believe he’s nothing more than an above-average lefty bullpen arm. The 27-year-old has played for three teams prior to being traded to the Chicago Cubs on July 20th this past season, after making his official major league debut with the Mariners in 2015.
Montgomery was regarded one of the best pitchers in the 2008 draft, leading the Kansas City Royals to nab in the first round with the 36th overall pick. However, after five inconsistent seasons in the Royals’ farm system, he was included in a trade packaged that sent James Shields and current Cubs closer Wade Davis to KC with Montgomery and a slew of players heading to Tampa Bay.
Montgomery would be traded once again, this time to Seattle, at Montgomery was beginning to flounder in the minors. The lefty would be given the opportunity to start in the Mariners rotation come 2015, but after posting a 4.60 ERA, a .290 opponent batting average, and a whopping 1.10% HR/9 rate in 16 starts, he was pushed to the bullpen in 2016.
Montgomery saw success in coming out of the pen, deflating his ERA 2.34 in 32 appearances in Seattle, while also increasing the speed of his four-seam fastball from 90 to nearly 94 MPH. On top of this, Montgomery’s curve ball was missing more bats than any other pitch in baseball (according to Brooks Baseball), which when paired with his 58.4% groundball rate, made the left-handed reliever one of the hardest pitchers to hit in baseball.
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Of course, Theo Epstein was well aware of this and saw an excellent fit with Montgomery and his Chicago Cubs. So, Epstein sent 1st baseman/DH prospect Dan Vogelbach and pitcher Paul Blackburn to Seattle in exchange for Montgomery and pitcher Jordan Pries, as once again Epstein got his man. However, while most people saw the next potential Andrew Miller in Mike Montgomery, Theo Epstein saw the next Jake Arrieta.
