This feels like a limb that could snap at any moment. Is Frankie Montas a sleeper? Yes. Do I 100% trust him? No, my Trust% is less than 100. (Baseball Prospectus has Trust% abbreviated as TrustFall% and FanGraphs has TrustFall% but doesn’t include gravity, so people trust fall and then float about five inches off the ground. You can see TrustFall% graphs at Brooks Baseball too. Okay, stepping away from my Ted Talk about baseball stat acronyms…) Guess for my Trust% to be at 100, the sleeperitude of a player would tumble (unless there was no gravity–okay, really moving on now). Much like your great Aunt Gloria, who had her knee reconstructed, I’m going to recap. Last year, Frankie Montas was having a breakout year. Times were good. His friends and family threw him a ticker tape parade with torn-up lottery tickets. Montas was even asked to give a toast–Wait, I’m recapping an episode of Malcolm in the Middle with Frankie Muniz. Sorry. Montas was breaking out though: 9-2/2.63/1.11/103 in 96 IP. Best breakout since Benicio del Toro in Escape at Dannemora. But, much like the inmates at Dannemora, Montas was caught doing bad stuff, unlike del Toro, he wasn’t mumbling. He was, “(S)uspended for using Ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator used in bodybuilding to increase strength and mass in lean muscles. It is capable of stimulating androgen receptors, steroid hormone receptors and mimicking testosterone.” That’s exhausting to just read! Do compound elements need to also be compound words? Discuss amongst yourselves! Anyway, what can we expect from Frankie Montas for 2020 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Well, what we can expect from Frankie Montas in 2020 fantasy baseball is the pickle that could be sweet or sour, but that’s why there’s a buying opportunity. Now, if we’re to assume Montas merely started using the PEDs this year, which fostered his breakout, and, presumably, he’s off the good shizz, so he will backslide to being a terrible pitcher, then bleh. Not sure why this would be the assumption though. Andy Pettitte (How many effin T’s are in his name?) admitted to PEDs but only for a short time and people think of the rest of his career as possibly HOF-worthy. Nelson Cruz was busted for PEDs in the minor leagues, back in the early 1970s (I think), and he’s still hitting 40 homers a year like some kind of clock that keeps time with HRs and RBIs. So, Montas was busted? So what? He was a 100 MPH flamethrower for years. Back in 2016, he was passed around the halls of Razzball with Prospector Ralph saying Montas had a plus-plus fastball, then Prospect Mike came along and said a similar thing while threatening my life. Everyone loved Montas for years! Are you thinking he’s been doing PEDs for years and that’s why he’s always been a 100-MPH hurler? Well, no offense, but you’re dopey, not him. Frankie Montas broke out last year with his nasty stuff, not because he discovered his ‘nasty stuff,’ but because he discovered the last piece to his puzzle — control. PEDs are aiding control? C’mon. He’s a 9.5-10 K/9 with an on-average 97 MPH fastball and devastating slider (top 15 in the majors). He’s on the older side (will be 27 in March), but he still throws dazzlers, so who cares? Montas feels like a precarious limb, due to PEDs, but, for his price, he’s one of the best sleepers. For 2020, I’ll give Frankie Montas projections 13-8/3.45/1.14/176 in 162 IP with a chance for much more.
