Mike Montgomery: Waiver Wire Pickup

Jun 7, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners pitcher

(37) throws the ball against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fourth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Mariners are 8.5 games back of first place in the AL West. It could be a lot worse given the state of their pitching rotation. Felix Hernandez was rocked in two of his last four outings, plus the injuries to Hisashi Iwakuma and James Paxton. The injuries forced the Mariners to call up Mike Montgomery, which may not have been a bad thing. He’s been dominant in his first three starts and should be picked up.

Montgomery was 4-3 with a 3.74 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in nine Triple-A starts. He also had 47:15 K:BB, 8.0 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 ratios.

In his first start, Montgomery shut down the New York Yankees. He went six innings and allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out four. His next start went seven innings with two earned runs, five hits, one walk and three strikeouts. Montgomery’s most recent outing earned him his first win. Eight innings, one earned run, six hits, three walks and four strikeouts against the hot Houston Astros.

He sits at 1-1 with a 1.89 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 5.2 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9. The walk rate is consistent with his minor-league numbers, but the strikeouts just aren’t there. He has an 11:6 K:BB rate, which could hurt his ERA and WHIP in the long run.

Despite that, as long as he isn’t allowing more than three earned runs per start, he has a spot in the rotation. The Mariners will have a hard time sending him back down when Iwakuma and/or Paxton receive a clean bill of health and return to the rotation. Maybe the Mariners can send Roenis Elias down to make room for Montgomery. Elias is 1-3 with a 5.56 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in his last four starts.

While the announcement hasn’t been made official, his next start will be Thursday against the San Francisco Giants. The Giants are hitting .248/.305/.359 with just 11 home runs and 49 RBI in the month of June.

Mike Montgomery is the 22nd-most added pitcher over the last seven days. His current ESPN.com ownership percentage sits at 13.5 percent. Montgomery has been overshadowed by the other prospect call ups, but he is doing just as well as the other rookie pitchers. I would pick him up regardless of his outing against the Giants on Thursday.