DUNEDIN, Fla. — Frankie Montas did not throw many pitches in a season and a half with the Yankees, but he did offer the club one final pitch on his way out.
In Arizona this offseason, Montas worked out with Dennis Santana and taught the righty a cutter that has excited the pitcher and his new team.
Santana, who signed a minor league deal with the Yankees this offseason, has arrived with a new pitch, an excitement to play with a club he grew up admiring and a real chance to crack the Opening Day bullpen.
“It’s my go-to pitch,” Santana said of the cutter, the grip of which he borrowed from Montas. “3-1, 3-2, I just trust it. It’s been amazing. I think it’s one of my best pitches right now.”
The hard-throwing righty has put himself on the team’s radar during a Grapefruit League season in which he has allowed one run on nine hits with 10 strikeouts in 7 ²/₃ innings.
There are probably two spots available in an Opening-Day bullpen that likely will include Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loáisiga, Caleb Ferguson, Victor Gonzalez and Ian Hamilton. Luke Weaver, also a starting option, could be a long man.
Tommy Kahnle likely will open the season on the injured list. Santana, Nick Burdi, Ron Marinaccio and Yoendrys Gomez are among the competitors for the final two spots.
Santana, a 27-year-old who has pitched in the majors for parts of six seasons with the Dodgers, Rangers and briefly with the Mets last year, is making a strong case.
“I’d heard great things about him even coming in, but so far that’s been confirmed,” Boone said of Santana, who allowed a run on three hits in 1 ²/₃ innings in an 8-1 loss to the Blue Jays at TD Ballpark on Tuesday. “He’s got really good stuff. The cutter … I think he worked hard on this winter, and right away when we got to the spring you’re like, that looks real.”
Santana, who has started in his past and could be a multi-inning weapon out of the bullpen, would be a rare five-pitch reliever. He touched 98 mph with his fastball Tuesday but led with the cutter, which he views as particularly useful against lefty hitters.
If Santana proves to be helpful to the Yankees, they can partially thank their history. Santana grew up in the Dominican Republic watching the Yankees dynasty, name-dropping Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Bernie Williams, Jason Giambi and Mariano Rivera as some of his favorites.
“Since you’re a kid, you see the Yankees and Boston playing in the Dominican,” Santana said. “The ‘NY,’ the hat, black, I like it. I got the opportunity to sign with them, I was like, let me get it. It’s a team with 27 championships. Everybody wants to be here.”
And they can partially thank a pitcher who appeared in nine games with the Yankees in 2022 and ’23, sidelined for the majority of his time in The Bronx because of injuries before signing with the Reds this offseason.
“He told me it’s a great organization,” Santana said of Montas, “and that’s all that I needed to hear.”
Weaver, a depth option for the rotation, was scratched from Monday’s game Sunday with a stiff neck but was feeling better a day later.
“He’s fine,” said Boone, who added Weaver may throw a live batting practice Wednesday. “This morning he felt really good.”
The Yankees optioned catcher Carlos Narváez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.