For Reds' Opening Day starter Frankie Montas, every pitch has a story

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Frankie Montas started thinking about the pitcher he wanted to be when he was a kid. He watched Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens and figured out what he wanted to do on the mound.

“I want to overpower people,” Montas said.

Since he picked up a baseball, Montas has had the fastball to make that happen. When he was a prospect, he made a name for himself with his velocity. He hit 101 mph when he pitched in the All-Star Futures Game in 2015. At the time, he didn’t know how much he’d change as a pitcher over the next nine years.

Now, Montas uses six pitches. He can connect each of them with a person, a memory or a stage of his career.

Four-seam fastball

In 2009, when the Boston Red Sox signed a 16-year-old Frankie Montas as an international free agent, Montas was known for his fastball. At the time, he only threw that four-seam fastball and a slider. While the slider was still a work in progress, the fastball opened up opportunities for him.

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As a prospect, Montas was traded in three different blockbuster deals. He was a big chip in those trades, and the upside of his fastball was at the top of his scouting report.

Montas said that over the last 15 years, he hasn’t really changed his fastball. He uses the same grip, and has the same mentality when he throws it. The only difference is that now the pitch sits around 96 mph instead of 100 mph.

Sinker

Montas developed his sinker in the minor leagues, and the pitch helped him change who he was as a pitcher. As he prepared to reach the big leagues, he recognized that he couldn’t just rely on being a hard thrower.

He had to force ground balls. He had to cover the entire plate. And he had to throw more strikes.

“When I was in the minors, I wasn't a big strike thrower,” Montas said. “I threw really hard and didn’t have the command I have now. Over the years, it’s something I’ve always prioritized. I don’t want to give people free walks.”

Montas’ sinker gives him a more consistent and efficient version of his fastball. When he received his first extended opportunity in the big leagues with the Oakland Athletics in 2017, Montas’ veteran teammates encouraged him to further develop this side of his game.

As Montas discusses his approach on the mound, he thanks former teammates Yusmeiro Petit, Marco Estrada, Mike Fiers, Fernando Rodney and Chris Bassitt for taking extra time with him early in his career. These veterans helped Montas develop a better sense of who he is as a pitcher.

Splitter

Heading into the 2019 season, Montas’ career was at a crossroads. He was out of minor league options. If Montas didn’t stick in the team’s starting rotation, they were going to move him to the bullpen.

Montas needed another pitch. First, he tried a changeup, and it didn’t work.

As Athletics pitching coach Scott Emerson considered different possibilities, he saw how well a splitter would pair with Montas’ signature fastball.

Montas tried different grips and recognized that he wasn’t comfortable using a true “forkball” grip that separates his middle finger from his ring finger. Montas tried out “more of a split-change grip” with his fingers closer together and “split my fingers as much as I could.”

“Then I threw it in a game,” Montas said. “I realized that this might be something I can use.”

Now, Montas is known for his splitter even more than his fastball. In 2021, which was the most recent season where Montas was fully healthy, he had the fourth-most effective splitter in baseball. In that season, only one pitcher threw his splitter more than Montas did.

The splitter has become a swing-and-miss pitch that Montas can count on in the biggest moments.

“Frankie will lean on his splitter,” Reds reliever Emilio Pagán said. “Everyone knows (it’s coming), and they still don’t do too much with it.”

Cutter

Before the 2021 season, Montas was struggling against left-handed hitters. He started looking for another pitch that could develop into a tool he badly needed.

Bassitt told him, “Maybe try a cutter. Even if it barely moves, if it’s aimed well, it’ll be effective.”

It worked. And it moved more than he thought it would. “I call it a hard, short slider,” Montas said.

Sliders

Montas technically has two sliders. He has the loopier slider that he has had since he was a teenager. That version of the pitch remains a consistent option when Montas is looking for a swing and miss.The other version of his slider is his newest pitch.

Montas, who played for the New York Yankees in 2022 and 2023, had shoulder surgery before the start of last season. He spent nearly the entire season rehabbing at the Yankees spring training facility before returning to the big leagues for one game in late September.

Montas made the most of his time rehabbing. In the Yankees’ farm system, they emphasize teaching pitchers sweeping sliders that have more horizontal movement. Montas learned that pitch in 2023, and now it’s a trusted piece of his arsenal.

He determines which slider he's going to throw based on what's working for him on any given day. He does the same thing with all six of his pitches, using a different pitch mix in just about every game.

Montas has the biggest repertoire of pitches in the Reds' rotation, and the approach works for him.

"I'm not really big on analytics," Montas said. "Whatever is working that day, that's what I'm going to throw. I let the game dictate what pitches I'll throw. I'm old school about that. I read swings. I see the way the guys stand in the batter's box."

“He has a lot of different ways to get you out,” Reds manager David Bell said. “And when he’s good, he throws them all for strikes.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Every pitch has a story for Reds starter Frankie Montas