Frankie Montas named Cincinnati Reds Opening Day Starter

Following Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians, Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell announced that Frankie Montas was going to be the team’s starting pitcher for Opening Day.

That may come as a surprise to some, but maybe not to others. Hunter Greene appeared to be the other pitcher in the conversation. He had started Opening Day for Cincinnati in 2023 and signed an extension with the Reds last season. Among the starting pitchers on the club, Frankie Montas has a resume that as of today, no one else can match.

The next time that Montas takes the mound in a big league game as a starter it will mark his 100th career start. Early in his career he worked in both a starting and relief role, but has been a starter for much of his big league time. Over the course of his 99 starts he’s posted a 3.77 ERA and thrown 551.0 innings while striking out 565 batters. For Montas, it will be his 3rd start on Opening Day. When he was with Oakland he made the first start for the club in both 2020 and 2022.

Cincinnati brought him in on a 2-year deal. He’s guaranteed at least $16,000,000 from the Reds. His contract in 2024 is for $14,000,000 and there’s a $20,000,000 mutual option for 2025 that includes a $2,000,000 buyout.

This spring has seen Frankie Montas make two starts so far. He threw two perfect innings with two strikeouts in his first outing, but allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk – including two home runs – in his last start against the Royals. His next start is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon against San Francisco.

The last time a pitcher made the Opening Day start for Cincinnati after joining the team during the offseason was back in 2017. That’s when Scott Feldman got the nod for the Reds. Cincinnati went on to lose that game 4-3 to the Philadelphia Phillies. For Feldman, it would be his final year in the big leagues. He made 21 starts for the Reds that season and went on the injured list in August and didn’t return.