‘Definitely a trial’: Jordan Montgomery sharp for DBacks after long free-agent journey

Jordan Montgomery packed his bags for what he thought would be a short trip to Miami. This was during spring training. He was still unsigned, but he figured his free agency couldn’t last much longer. He figured some team would move on him. No one did.

Montgomery brought enough clothes to get him through a few days working out at a facility run by the agency that represented him. He wound up staying for more than three weeks.

Though Montgomery remains baffled at the way his offseason unfolded, one thing seems clear from his first two starts with the Diamondbacks: The uncertainty caused by his extended free agency — the lack of a normal spring training — did not seem to faze him.

Unlike other late-signing players in recent years, Montgomery, who formally signed with the Diamondbacks on the second day of the season, has had no trouble getting into the flow of things.

In two starts, he has posted a 2.77 ERA in 13 innings. He has gotten ahead in counts, kept hitters off balance and pitched deep into games. He is scheduled to make his third start on Tuesday night vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks are thrilled with his performance so far, especially at a time when they are dealing with a slew of injuries to the pitching staff.

“He’s got a really low heartbeat,” General Manager Mike Hazen said. “He throws strikes. He mixes his stuff. He’s a veteran pitcher that knows how to pitch. It’s exactly what our rotation needs. We were hoping that rotation was going to have all these guys pieced together, but that’s kind of fallen apart on us a little bit since he’s come back, but he’s been great.”

Meanwhile, left-hander Blake Snell, who landed with the San Francisco Giants 10 days before Montgomery signed, has had a rough time, pitching poorly in three starts before landing on the injured list with a lower-body issue.

Snell’s struggles are not unusual for a late-signing player. Six years ago, both right-handers Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb struggled after agreeing to deals more than midway through spring training. Three years ago, right-hander Jake Odorizzi was roughed up early in the year after signing late.

Despite the results, Montgomery is not entirely satisfied with how he has pitched. He doesn’t think his command has been dialed in, and he is particularly displeased with his curveball, a pitch he hung for a home run to the Cardinals’ Willson Contreras last week in St. Louis.

“I might not be as sharp as I’d want to be right now,” he said, “but I can still go out there and compete.”

Montgomery did not want go to into many details about his free agency — nor did he want to talk about his decision to cut ties with agent Scott Boras, which was first reported earlier this month by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel — but he admitted it was a frustrating time for him.

“Probably a little more stressed, confused,” he said. “I don’t know how to explain it. You come off that year and your expectations are so high. It’s almost like your feelings are hurt. Like, ‘Dang, does nobody really want me? What’s going on? I thought I was a pretty good pitcher and now I’m the last guy on the board.’ It definitely was a trial, and a lot of prayer.

“It’s in the past. It’s over. There’s nothing I can really do about it now. It’s a lot of shoulda, woulda, coulda’s, but I’m happy to be here and be done.”

Over the offseason, Montgomery did his best to prepare despite the circumstances. He ramped up slowly in the winter, giving himself more downtime time after logging 219 innings between the regular season and playoffs last year.

He gradually increased his throwing distances in December and January – while on vacation in Mexico, he crossed paths with Cubs lefty Drew Smyly, who became his throwing partner for five days – then progressed to throwing bullpens in his hometown of Sumter, S.C., with his longtime pitching coach, Joe Norris.

Before he flew to Miami to continue throwing at Boras’ facility, Montgomery packed his car at home with everything he would need for spring training. He figured he would have the car shipped to camp in either Florida or Arizona. That never happened.

At the facility, he built up to two or three simulated innings. Bored and lonely after a few weeks, he returned to South Carolina. There, he built up to five innings. At one point, one his friends from home, Bruce Caldwell, a former player in the Cardinals system, stood in the box during Montgomery's throwing sessions. But he never faced a hitter who was swinging until he got to Salt River Fields shortly after signing.

Montgomery believes part of the reason he has been able to hold his own so far is because of where he is in his career. Sometime around 2021, he said he began to develop a feel for his delivery while gaining a better understanding of who he is as a pitcher, allowing him to do things like self-correct when his mechanics go awry.

If he had signed late, say, five years ago, he thinks things would have gone differently.

“I’d be doomed,” he said. “I’ve gotten pretty comfortable with my delivery. I wouldn’t say I’m timed up or synched up perfectly right now, but I’m in a zone where I can at least throw strikes and be aggressive.

“I want to be perfectly synched up like I was when I went on that run last year, but I don’t think that’s realistic. I’ve got to give myself some grace and just understand where I’m at right now. I’ve just got to keep competing and it’ll get there.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jordan Montgomery sharp for DBacks after long free agent journey