Frankie Montas’ Mets tenure didn’t get off to the start he hoped for.
After joining the Mets on a two-year, $34 million contract in the offseason, Montas went down during spring training with a high-grade right lat strain.
What came next was a six-week shutdown, followed by a slow build-up in which Montas resumed throwing in April, began a rehab assignment in May and was finally deemed ready to make his season debut on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field.
“I’m just happy to be able to help,” Montas, 32, told the Daily News on the eve of his first start with the Mets.
“It’s tough watching from the side and not being able to do anything to help the team get a win. I feel like that’s the best part about being back healthy. I can finally try to contribute.”
When the Mets signed Montas, they envisioned him as a key piece in a rotation that lost Luis Severino and Jose Quintana, both of whom made 31 starts last year.
Right shoulder trouble — which ultimately resulted in surgery — limited Montas to eight appearances with the Yankees from 2022-23, but he made 30 starts last season with the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.
The right-hander went 7-11 with a 4.84 ERA in 150.2 innings last year, but he impressed when he limited the Mets to one run in 3.2 innings during a Brewers win last postseason.
“When we were playing in the wild card, the playoff series, and we faced him, he was pretty nasty with the way the ball was coming out, the way he was using all his pitches,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Mendoza was the Yankees’ bench coach during Montas’ two-season stint in the Bronx.
“I’ve seen him pitch for a lot of years at this level and have success,” Mendoza said. “The expectation is [for him] to go out there, compete and give us a chance to win a baseball game every time he takes the ball.”
Montas went 0-3 with a 12.05 ERA over six minor-league rehab starts, during which he surrendered eight home runs and issued 10 walks in 18.2 innings.
Following Montas’ fifth start, Mendoza said the Mets had a decision to make about the 10-year MLB veteran’s role when he returned to the majors. But last week, Mendoza confirmed Montas would join the rotation.
“To be honest, I was not really thinking about the numbers and all that,” Montas told The News. “I was just trying to get my pitch count up and work on the pitches. At the end of the day, they didn’t sign me to pitch in the minor leagues. They signed me to pitch here in the big leagues and help as much as I can.”
The hard-throwing Montas joins a banged-up Mets rotation that is missing ace Kodai Senga (hamstring strain) and Tylor Megill (elbow sprain) and that’s been without Sean Manaea (oblique strain) all season.
Montas ramped up to 80 pitches in his final rehab start and said he feels equipped to throw 100.
“I feel really confident in my pitch count,” Montas said. “I feel really good right now physically, and as long as they want me out there, I’ll be out there.”
