Royals pitching prospect Mike Montgomery was the 36th overall selection in the 2008 draft and ranked 19th on Baseball America‘s Top 100 list heading into the 2011 season. But his career has since stalled.
The 23-year-old left-hander posted an uninspiring 5.32 ERA and 7.7 K/9 across 150 2/3 innings last season in his first taste of the Triple-A level and was demoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas earlier today after opening this summer with a 5.69 ERA and 6.6 K/9 over his first 91 2/3 frames of 2012.
“We just want to get him back there with [Double-A Northwest Arkansas pitching coach] Larry Carter and work on some things,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore told beat reporter Dick Kaegel of MLB.com. “The organization just felt it was the right thing to do. Just give him a breather and re-start a little bit. We’re trying to get him more downhill and power his fastball in the zone. We just think getting back down there will be beneficial to him.”
Montgomery had a sparkling 1.88 ERA, 0.887 WHIP and 9.3 K/9 in his two plus seasons of High-A ball.