Montgomery finding groove as converted reliever

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- During his junior season at Texas Tech, Mason Montgomery only made one relief appearance. ¡°And it was brutal,¡± he said, smiling.

Before last year, the left-hander¡¯s lone outing out of the bullpen was a bulk-inning outing in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League in 2021. He obviously started in high school. In other words, Montgomery was a full-time starter -- and a good one, at that.

But late last summer, as Montgomery battled to get deep into games and limit runs for Triple-A Durham, his coaches approached him with an idea: How about moving to the bullpen? Just focus on one inning at a time and leave it all out on the mound.

The transformation was instant, and the results were incredible. Armed with an upper-90s fastball and a wipeout slider, Montgomery quickly established himself as a rookie reliever to watch.

Now, the only thing that¡¯s ¡°brutal¡± is having to step into the batter¡¯s box against him.

¡°I mean, it was super impressive,¡± reliever Cole Sulser said. ¡°Hard not to be impressed when he goes out there striking out everyone with electric stuff like he did.¡±

Two years ago, Montgomery reported to Disney¡¯s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex for his first big league Spring Training camp. He was coming off a spectacular season in the Minors, having earned the Rays¡¯ 2022 Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award, and seemingly bound for a future in Tampa Bay¡¯s rotation.

But Montgomery took a slight step back as he moved into the upper Minors in 2023, struggling to maintain his top-end stuff and posting a double-digit walk rate. Triple-A presented a tough test last year, and he had a 7.04 ERA after his first outing in August.

Then, on Aug. 8, he pitched the seventh inning, struck out two and picked up a save. His average fastball velocity ticked up nearly 3 mph from his most recent start, according to Statcast. He touched 98 mph and didn¡¯t fire a fastball slower than 95.1 mph.

And just like that, a potential high-leverage reliever was born.

¡°It¡¯s weird, because it¡¯s not like as a starter I¡¯m trying to take anything off of it,¡± Montgomery said. ¡°But I think knowing that you¡¯re going one inning, you can go out there and give it all you¡¯ve got for 20 pitches, and that¡¯s it.¡±

The 24-year-old went on to strike out 20 of the 38 batters he faced for Triple-A Durham from Aug. 8-Sept. 3. He gave up five hits and walked five in 9 2/3 innings over 10 outings. He didn¡¯t allow a run.

Called up to the Majors in early September, Montgomery faced 37 hitters and struck out 17. He gave up six hits, five walks and two runs in 9 2/3 innings over nine outings. On Sept. 24 in Detroit, he struck out all six batters he faced.

¡°It just happened so fast. It¡¯s like, you blink, and OK, it¡¯s already been a month that it already happened,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s definitely something that I¡¯m proud of.¡±

Montgomery isn¡¯t messing with a good thing this spring. He might tinker with a two-seam fastball, but he¡¯ll focus on his two best pitches: his four-seam fastball with vertical movement reminiscent of former Rays reliever Colin Poche, but with more velocity, and an upper-80s slider that generated a 56% whiff rate during his MLB debut.

It was all there as he breezed through his first outing on Tuesday.

¡°It¡¯s not a very fun at-bat. The ball gets on you quick. He hides it well. He¡¯s got a really wipeout slider,¡± manager Kevin Cash said. ¡°It felt like every time he came in there, there was something that we were all wow-ing about in the dugout.¡±

Montgomery admitted he ¡°didn¡¯t expect it to go that smoothly at all¡± when he moved to the bullpen. He credits Triple-A teammates Sulser and Michael Gomez for helping him learn how to handle a relief role and adjust to the routines of life in the bullpen.

Sulser deflected the praise, saying it was all about Montgomery. But the 34-year-old right-hander made himself available in the Minors and Majors for any of Montgomery¡¯s questions about weightlifting schedules, throwing programs, setting goals when warming up and having to pitch more often.

¡°He's an incredibly hard worker, and I think he made the adjustment super well, obviously,¡± Sulser said. ¡°You could see his stuff was just electric. It was pretty amazing to watch him go into the 'pen.¡±

Montgomery said he took some time early in the offseason to reflect on how much changed for him in such a short time last year, and he thought Tuesday about how far he¡¯s come -- and where he¡¯s gone -- since his first big league camp two years ago.

¡°It¡¯s certainly different, but nevertheless, it¡¯s still pitching,¡± he said, smiling. ¡°It¡¯s definitely cool.¡±