Series tied at 2-2
HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
ALCS GAME 5: The Astros and Rangers will play Game 5 of the 2023 American League Championship Series today in what is the finale in Arlington before the series shifts back to Houston… today’s pitching matchup is a rematch of Game 1 between the future Hall of Famer RHP Justin Verlander opposite LHP Jordan Montgomery…Verlander (2ER/6.2IP) pitched well in Game 1 but was outdueled by Montgomery (0ER/6.2IP) in the Astros 2-0 loss in Houston.
OCTOBER VETERAN:RHP Justin Verlander has gone 17-12 with a 3.51 ERA (86ER/220.1IP) in 37 career postseason games (36 starts)…he is already Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in postseason strikeouts (241) and currently ranks second in wins (17) trailing only LHP Andy Pettitte (19)… Verlander is also the franchise record-holder in postseason wins (10), starts (20) and strikeouts (129).
ROAD WINS: The road team has won all four games to begin the 2023 American League Championship Series…this is the seventh best-of-seven series all-time to have the road team win each of the first four games and the first since the infamous 2019 World Series between the Astros and Nationals, in which the road team won all seven contests…per Elias, the only other LCS to have the road club win the first four games came in 1993, when the Blue Jays won Games 1 and 2 in Chicago, before the White Sox won Games 3 and 4 in Toronto…Toronto went on to win the series in six games.
THE LONE STAR STATE RIVALRY: This series represents the first postseason matchup between the two franchises in the great state of Texas…in fact, this season is just the fourth time in MLB history for these two teams to make the postseason in the same year (also, 1998-99, 2015)…an LCS between two intra-state rivals has never happened before, but it has happened in the World Series, last occurring in 2002, when Dusty Baker managed San Francisco against Anaheim in a seven-game series won by the Angels.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Astros evened up the ALCS with a 10-3 victory over the Rangers in Arlington last night…it was a team effort on the offensive side, with the Astros setting a franchise record by collecting eight hits with runners in scoring position…2B Jose Altuve (3×4) had a huge night, as he doubled twice and scored three runs…he was backed by DH Yordan Alvarez (2×4, 3RBI) and 1B Jose Abreu (1×3, HR, 3RBI), who both drove in three…RHP Hunter Brown (0ER/3IP) pitched great in relief, while RHP Ryne Stanek (0ER/0.2IP) picked up the victory.
ROAD WARRIORS: Including a 4-0 record this postseason, the Astros have gone 55-30 (.647) on the road this season, which ranks as the best road record in the Majors…additionally, the Astros are 18-3 in their last 21 road games…among AL teams in road games in the regular season, the Astros led the AL in runs per game (5.70), HR (130), batting average (.268), OBP (.337), SLG (.460) and OPS (.798).
HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Astros are 8-1 in their nine games at Globe Life Field this season and have won seven straight at the venue…the offense has been the story, with the club combining to hit .321 with 26 homers and a 1.014 OPS, while averaging 9.0 runs per game (81 runs)…leading the charge has been 2B Jose Altuve, who’s hit .366 with eight homers in his nine games in Arlington in 2023.
COMING UP BIG: 2B Jose Altuve, who was playing in his 100th career postseason game last night, scored three runs to move into second place all-time in runs scored in the postseason, surpassing Bernie Williams…he also enters today’s game ranking second in postseason history in homers (25), fourth in hits (112), fourth in extra-base hits (45), seventh in games (100) and ninth in RBI (51)…all-time postseason rankings below:
RUNS SCORED (#1-3) RBI (#7-9)
- Derek Jeter 111 7. Albert Pujols 54
- Jose Altuve 85 8. Alex Bregman 52
- Bernie Williams 83 9. Jose Altuve 51
THE HOT CORNER: 3B Alex Bregman has played seven full seasons in the Majors (2017-23) and has advanced to at least the ALCS in every full year, winning two championships…he now has 17 career postseason homers and 52 career postseason RBI, both MLB records for a third baseman.
MOONSHOTS: 1B José Abreu has hit three of his four longest home runs in 2023 this postseason, including a 438’ shot last night off LHP Cody Bradford…according to MLB’s Sarah Langs, Abreu is the first player with three 430+ ft homers in a single postseason in the Statcast era (since 2015).
AIR YORDAN: LF Yordan Alvarez is hitting .419 (13×31) with two doubles, six homers, 13 RBI, 11 runs scored and a 1.522 OPS in eight games this postseason…a few notes on his postseason:
- Alvarez now has 12 career postseason homers, the most by a Cuban-born player in Major League history.
- he has two multi-homer games, becoming the first player in Astros history and sixth player in Major League history with two multi-homer games in a single postseason.
- his six homers already tie as the third-highest total for a single postseason in franchise history, last reached by SS Carlos Correa in 2020…the franchise record for a single season is eight, hit by CF Carlos Beltrán in 2004.
- per OptaSTATS, the Astros are 19-2 (.905) in postseason games when Alvarez records an RBI…only one other MLB player has a .900+ career winning percentage in the postseason when driving in a run (min. 20 games): Lou Gehrig (18-2).
THE KING:RHP Ryan Pressly is 14-for-14 in career postseason save opportunities, giving him the most postseason saves in Astros club history, and giving him the fifth-most saves in MLB postseason history…Pressly did not allow an earned run in 11.0 innings last postseason, and has not allowed an earned run in each of his last 19 postseason appearances (20.2IP)… he’s allowed just one unearned run in that span.
TODAY’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP JUSTIN VERLANDER
LAST START – ALCS GAME 1 VS. TEX: allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts in 6.2 innings…recorded the 18th quality start of his postseason career, tying RHP Roger Clemens for the 5th-most in MLB postseason history…made his 36th career postseason start, breaking a tie with LHP Tom Glavine for the 2nd-most postseason starts in MLB history, trailing only LHP Andy Pettitte (44g)…has reached 220.1 IP in his postseason career, surpassing LHP Tom Glavine (218.1 IP) for the 2nd-most in MLB postseason history…made his 14th career Game 1 start in a postseason series, which are 2 more than any other player in MLB history.
IN THE POSTSEASON: in his 37 career appearances in the postseason, he’s recorded a 3.51 ERA (86ER/220.1IP) with 241 strikeouts, 73 walks, a .213 opponent batting average, a 1.12 WHIP and 18 quality starts.
- was named the 2017 ALCS MVP, after he recorded a 0.56 ERA (1ER/16IP) with 21 strikeouts, 2 walks, and a .179 opponent batting average against the New York Yankees.
- has the most strikeouts in MLB postseason history with 241, directly ahead of LAD LHP Clayton Kershaw (213)…also is 2 wins shy of tying LHP Andy Pettitte (19) for the most postseason wins in MLB history…is the Astros all-time leader in postseason wins (10), starts (20) and innings pitched (122.0).
ABOUT VERLANDER: the future Hall of Famer, 9-time All-Star, 3-time Cy Young Award winner, 2011 AL MVP and 2006 AL Rookie of the Year returned to the Astros rotation in early August after a 3-month stint with the Mets.
- acquired by Houston on Aug. 1 along with cash considerations in exchange for minor league prospects OF Drew Gilbert and OF Ryan Clifford…marks his second time to be acquired by Houston via trade, which also happened at the waiver trading deadline in 2017…thanks in large part to Verlander, the Astros went on to win the 2017 World Series.
- made 11 starts with the Astros, he went 7-3 with a 3.31 ERA (25ER/68IP)…also recorded a 63 strikeouts, 14 walks, a .236 opponent batting average, a 1.12 WHIP and 6 quality starts during that span.
STRONG STRETCH: in his final 18 starts (11 with the Astros) of the regular season…he went 11-4 with a 2.61 ERA (32ER/110.1IP) and held opponents to a .214 (89×415) batting average and a .617 OPS…during that time span among Major League pitchers, he ranked 2nd in wins, 4th in ERA, 3rd in innings and 6th in opponent batting average.
VS. TEX: is facing a familiar foe in the Texas Rangers…has made 35 career regular season starts against the Rangers.
- in his 35 starts, he’s recorded a 2.60 ERA (63ER/218.1IP) with 55 walks, 242 strikeouts, a 1.05 WHIP, a .215 opponent batting average and 28 quality starts.
- is making his 4th career postseason start against the Rangers…has recorded a 4.50 ERA (9ER/18IP) with 18 strikeouts…has gone at least 6.0 innings in 2 of his 3 previous postseason starts against Texas.
TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
WINS AND LOSSES: The Rangers have lost consecutive games to the Astros this week, dropping to 7-2 in the 2023 postseason…the losses have snapped a franchise-best 7-G postseason win streak that covered this year’s ALWC G1-2 at TB, ALDS G1-2-3 at/vs. BAL, and ALCS G1-2 at HOU…it surpassed the previous longest postseason win streak in Rangers history, a 5-0 span in 2011 (ALDS G2-3-4 vs. TB + ALCS G1-2 vs. DET).
- Texas has lost back-to-back games for just the 2nd time in the last month (also 9/28-29 at SEA), and club will look to avoid losing 3 in a row for the 1st time since a 0-4 span from 9/15-18…Texas had gone 16 days (10/2-17) without losing…the team had not lost in the postseason since 2016 ALDS G3 at TOR.
- The Rangers’ 7 wins remain tied with PHI for most in the 2023 postseason, as both club’s are 7-2 entering today’s contests.
- The Rangers’ 7-G win streak was T5th-longest in MLB history in a single postseason, as only longer win streak in one year is 8 games, done 4 times by 2004 BOS, 2005 CWS, 2014 KC, and 2019 WSH.
- The 2023 Rangers were just the 6th team in MLB history to win 7-or-more straight to open a postseason…the 7-0 run to open the 2023 postseason was T2nd-longest such win streak in MLB history, as only 2014 KC (8-0) had begun a postseason with a longer win streak.
ALCS IN ARLINGTON: Last night’s Game 4 was just the Rangers’ 3rd home game in the 2023 postseason: ALDS G3 vs. BAL (7-1 win), ALCS G3 vs. HOU (8-5 loss), and ALCS G4 vs. HOU (10-3 loss)…Texas has now played 3 home games in the last 25 days (9/25-10/19).
- Rangers’ 10-6 (.625) all-time record in LCS play is the 2nd-highest win pct. in MLB history among teams with multiple appearances (Montreal/
Washington is 6-3, .667 in LCS play). - Rangers are 10-18 (.357) all-time in postseason home games, the 3rd-lowest home win pct. of any franchise in MLB history to COL (.300, 3-7) and CHC (.350, 21-39)…TEX has lost 7 of 8 at home, but is 10-11 in Arlington beg. with 2010 ALCS G2 vs. NYY, this after losing 1st 7 home playoff games in franchise history.
- Texas is 5-3 all-time in ALCS home games, with the losses in Games 3-4 of this ALCS snapping a 5-G win streak in such contests, only prior loss being club’s 1st-ever ALCS game: 2010 ALCS G1 vs. NYY.
ALCS UPDATE: Houston has tied this ALCS at 2-2 after last night’s Game 4, as the road team has won every game in this best-of-7 series thus far… some notes on the current situation ahead of Game 5:
- This is the 7th best-of-seven series all-time to have the road team win each of the first 4 games…the last instance was the 2019 World Series (WSH over HOU), when the road team won all 7 contests…the only other LCS to have the road club win the first 4 games came in 1993: Blue Jays won G1-2 in Chicago and White Sox won G3-4 in Toronto…the Jays won the series in 6 games (credit Elias).
- In best-of-7 series all-time tied at 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has gone on to win the series 46 of 65 times – 70.8% (credit Elias).
- There have been 14 teams to drop 3 in a row after winning the 1st 2 G in a best-of-7 series, and Rangers will attempt to avoid joining that list today… most recent instance?: Nationals in 2019 WS vs. HOU (won in 7 G).
GAME 5: The Rangers are 2-4 all-time in Game 5 of postseason series, losing 4 of last 5, including most recent instance in 2015 ALDS G5 at TOR
(6-3 defeat)…each of the other 5 Game 5’s for Texas came in 2010-11, with only wins being 2011 WS G5 vs. STL and 2010 ALDS G5 at TB…the only Game 5’s to take place in Arlington were 2010 WS G5 vs. SF, when Giants clinched the title, and 2011 WS G5 vs. STL, when the Rangers’ 4-2 win gave Texas a 3-games-to-2 series lead, one win from taking the Fall Classic.
GLOBE LIFE FIELD: Today’s Game 5 of this ALCS will be the Rangers’ 4th postseason game ever at Globe Life Field (1-2)…the others (all in 2023): ALDS G3 vs. BAL (7-1 win), ALCS G3 vs. HOU (8-5 loss), and ALCS G4 vs. HOU (10-3 loss)…Texas has played 3 home games in the last 25 days (9/25-10/19).
- GLF hosted 16 games in the 2020 postseason (NLDS, NLCS, WS), the most at any single venue in one postseason in MLB history.
BIG CROWD: Games 3 and 4 of this ALCS in Arlington have produced the top 2 attendance figures ever for MLB games at Globe Life Field (2020-23): 42,368 for ALCS G3 and 42,060 for last night’s ALCS G4…the other home game this season sits in 3rd place all-time: 40,861 for ALDS G3 vs. BAL on 10/10 …there have now been 6 crowds in GLF history that have exceeded 40K, all in 2023, as there were 3 such instances in the regular season.
LIVING THE GLOBE LIFE: Corey Seager hit a game-tying solo HR in the 3rd inning last night, as he has HR in 2 of the Rangers’ 3 home games in the 2023 postseason…he has reached safely in 8 of the Rangers’ 9 playoff games in ‘23, and his 22 times on base lead all MLB players in the 2023 postseason…more notes on Seager:
- He now has 15 career postseason home runs, T16th all-time with Babe Ruth, Bryce Harper, and Jayson Werth…the 15 HR rank 3rd all-time by a shortstop to only Derek Jeter (20) and Carlos Correa (18).
- Seager is a career .343/.440/.786/1.226 (24-70) hitter in 19 postseason games at Globe Life Field, recording 9 HR, 4 2B, 21 RBI, and 21 R…all 9 postseason HR at GLF have come in his last 15 games here…the 9 HR are T7th-most by any player at one venue in postseason history (see chart).
MOST POSTSEASON HOME RUNS IN ONE VENUE, MLB HISTORY
HR Player Venue PA
13 Jim Thome Progressive Field 109
13 Jose Altuve Minute Maid Park 199
12 David Ortiz Fenway Park 160
11 Alex Bregman Minute Maid Park 177
10 Bernie Williams Yankee Stadium 264
10 Derek Jeter Yankee Stadium 274
9 Yordan Alvarez Minute Maid Park 117
9 Nelson Cruz Globe Life Park in Arlington 68
9 Corey Seager Globe Life Field 84
MOST POSTSEASON HOME RUNS SINCE 2020
HR Player HR Player
12 Corey Seager 11 Yordan Álvarez
12 Jose Altuve 11 Randy Arozarena
12 Kyle Schwarber 10 Bryce Harper
FULL MONTY: Jordan Montgomery is set for his 2nd start in this ALCS today, as he earned the win with 6.1 SHO IP in Game 1 on Sun. at HOU… Montgomery is seeking to become just the 3rd pitcher in Rangers history to win multiple starts in a single postseason series…the 2 pitchers to do it previously:
Cliff Lee – 2 wins in 2010 ALDS vs. TB (G1 and G5)
Colby Lewis – 2 wins in 2010 ALCS vs. NYY (G2 and G6)
- Montgomery over his last 7 starts spanning the regular season and postseason beg. 9/13: 4-0, 1.22, 6 ER/44.1 IP, 7 BB/35 SO…Montgomery will be pitching in Arlington for the 1st time since 9/23 vs. SEA (7.0 SHO IP).
START AGAIN: Jordan Montgomery and Justin Verlander will revisit the pitching matchup from Game 1 of this series in Houston, when the Rangers posted a 2-0 victory…the Rangers will become just the 4th team to face Verlander 4+ times in the postseason, joining NYY (9) and BOS/OAK (5)… Texas is 2-1 in its 3 matchups with Verlander in the postseason, including a 3-2 Rangers win in the only previous Arlington outing: 2011 ALCS G1 at Globe Life Park (Verlander line: L, 4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R-ER).
ROOF STATUS, CLOSED: The roof is scheduled to be closed for today’s ALCS G5 at Globe Life Field…last night’s ALCS G4 was played with the roof open, ending a span in which 59 straight games at GLF beginning 6/2 (57 reg. season, 2 postseason) had been played with the roof closed…last night was the 1st open-air game in Arlington since 5/21 vs. COL, which was the last of the Rangers’ 11 regular season home games with the roof open in 2023.
THIS COULD BE THE DAY: The Rangers enter today’s 4:07 pm CT contest with a 5-0 record in day games this postseason, including a win in ALCS G2 at HOU…Texas has out-scored opponents 30-15 in the 5 day tilts…this will be the Rangers’ 1st postseason day game ever at Globe Life Field, and the only previous playoff game in this park that was a day contest was 2020 NLCS G6 (ATL at LAD), a 3-1 Dodgers win.
SHORTS: Adolis García has one HR in each of the Rangers’ 3 postseason series this month, and his 3 HR in the playoffs are tied for the club lead (also Josh Jung)…García has hit safely in 8 of the Rangers’ 9 playoff games…Evan Carter in his 1st 9 postseason games: .321/.472/.607/1.079 (9-28) w/ 7 BB/7 SO…Carter has reached safely in 9 straight to begin his postseason career…longest on-base streaks to begin a postseason career, Rangers history: 15-Elvis Andrus, 12-Nelson Cruz, 9-Evan Carter…Carter has reached safely in 28 of his 32 MLB games (reg. and postseason)…Jordan Montgomery has gone 2-0, 0.69 ERA (2 R-1 ER/13.0 IP) over 2 games/ starts vs. HOU in 2023 (ALCS G1 at HOU w/ TEX; 6/27 vs. HOU w/ STL).
GAME 5 STARTING PITCHER – #52 Jordan Montgomery, LHP (2-0, 2.08)
POSTSEASON: Montgomery will be making his 4th start of the 2023 postseason this afternoon, working on regular 4 days’ rest after tossing 6.1 shutout frames in ALCS G1 at HOU on Sun. (see ‘Last Start’)…has gone 2-0, 2.08 ERA (4 ER/17.1 IP) with 13 SO/2 BB in 3 starts in these playoffs, the 3rd-lowest ERA ever produced by a Texas pitcher over his first 3 starts of a postseason: 0.75 by Cliff Lee in 2010, 1.45 by Colby Lewis in 2010, 2.08 by Montgomery in 2023…also spun 7.0 scoreless frames in Texas’ 4-0 victory in ALWC G1 at TB, and is the 1st pitcher in Rangers history to have multiple scoreless starts in a single postseason…Montgomery is 2-0, 1.88 ERA (5 ER/24.0 IP) across 5 games/4 starts in his playoff career, the 3rd-lowest postseason ERA by any pitcher with 4+ playoff starts since the beg. of 2020: 0.94-Ranger Suarez, 1.26-Ian Anderson, 1.88-Montgomery… last postseason action before 2023 came in scoreless 2.2-inning relief outing for St. Louis in 2022 NLWC G2 vs. PHI (2 H, 3 BB, 3 SO, 37 pitches/22 strikes)…first career postseason app. was start for the New York Yankees in 2020 ALDS G4 vs. TB (ND, 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 62 pitches/34 strikes).
LAST START: Earned the win in Texas’ series-opening 2-0 victory in ALCS G1 at HOU on Sun. (W, 6.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 90 pitches/60 strikes)…outdueled HOU’s Justin Verlander (L, 6.2 IP, 2 R-ER), who was making his 36th career postseason start (2nd-most in MLB history)…Montgomery became just the 9th pitcher ever to blank the Astros over 6.0+ IP in a postseason contest at Minute Maid Park, 2nd in 2023 (also 7.0 SHO IP by MIN’s Pablo López in 2023 ALDS G2 at HOU)…Houston’s left-handed batters were 0-for-6 w/ 3 K’s vs. Montgomery, with all 3 K’s coming against Yordan Alvarez…became the 1st pitcher ever to strike out Alvarez 3+ times in a single postseason game (MLB Research Portal)…the last pitcher to punch out the Astros slugger 3-or-more times in a single contest (reg. or postseason) was NYY’s Gerrit Cole on 6/25/22 vs. HOU (also 3 times).
VS. HOUSTON: Montgomery has gone 1-1, 3.73 ERA (13 ER/31.1 IP) with 29 SO/4 BB over 6 games/starts vs. Houston in his career during the regular season, with Sunday’s outing in ALCS G1 at HOU marking his 1st-ever postseason appearance against the ‘Stros…including Sunday’s start (6.1 SHO IP), Montgomery has gone 2-0, 0.69 ERA (2 R-1 ER/13.0 IP) in 2 games/starts vs. HOU in 2023 (also W, 6.2 IP, 2 R-1 ER on 6/27/23 vs. HOU w/ STL).
AT HOME: Saw far better ERA results in 15 starts on the road (3-6, 2.73 ERA) than in 17 starts at home (7-5, 3.61 ERA) in the regular season…went 3-1, 3.82 ERA (15 ER/35.1 IP) in 6 starts here at Globe Life Field with Texas and 4-4, 3.50 ERA (25 ER/64.1 IP) in 11 starts at Busch Stadium with St. Louis…each of his 3 starts this postseason have come on the road, as today’s outing will be his 1st in Arlington since 2-0 TEX win on 9/23/23 vs. SEA (W, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 SO).
IT’S HOW YOU FINISH: Montgomery went 2-0, 0.67 ERA (2 ER/27.0 IP) with 22 SO/5 BB and a .196 opp. BA over his last 4 starts (9/13-28) to end the season, as he registered quality starts (6.0+ IP, 3-or-fewer ER) in each of those outings… after opening 2-6, 4.55 ERA (28 ER/55.1 IP) in his first 10 starts, he went 8-5, 2.63 (39 ER/133.1 IP) with 114 SO/32 BB, .232 opp. BA, and just 11 HR allowed over his last 22 starts (beg. 5/28) to close the regular season…his 2.63 ERA after 5/28 ranked 4th among MLB qualifiers over that span behind only SD’s Blake Snell (1.18), BAL’s Kyle Bradish (2.40), and NYM’s Kodai Senga (2.59)…posted quality starts in 13 of 22 outings over that period, incl. each of his last 4 starts.
2023: The 30-year-old southpaw combined to go 10-11, 3.20 ERA (67 ER/188.2 IP) with a career-high 166 strikeouts (prev. 162 in 2021 w/ NYY) across 32 starts with St. Louis (21 GS) and Texas (11 GS) this season…ranked among MLB qualifiers in HR/9 (7th, 0.86), ERA (8th), and GIDP/9 (8th, 0.95)…his career-high 20 quality starts (6.0+ IP, 3-or-fewer ER) were T5th-most in MLB and tied for most among left-handers with CHC’s Justin Steele, HOU’s Framber Valdez, and SD’s Blake Snell…compiled his first career 10-win campaign, but was still just the 7th qualified pitcher in the last 8 seasons (beg. 2016) to finish with a sub-.500 season W-L record (.476) despite posting an ERA of 3.20-or-lower…received an average of 4.72 runs in support, 14th-lowest RSA among MLB qualifiers…his teams went 11-21 in his starts (7-14 w/ STL, 4-7 w/ TEX).
WITH TEXAS: Was acquired by the Rangers on 7/30 in a trade with St. Louis, along with RHP Chris Stratton and international bonus pool money, in exchange for LHP John King, INF/OF Tommy Saggese, and RHP T.K. Roby…went 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA (21 ER/67.2 IP) and 58 SO/13 BB over 11 starts (8 quality starts) as a Ranger, ranking among A.L. leaders from 8/1-end of season in innings (4th), opp. OPS (7th, .630), and ERA (8th)…was 2-1, 1.73 (5 ER/26.0 IP) in his first 4 starts with the club from 8/4-21, joining Chi Chi González (3 R-ER/30.0 IP from 5/30- 6/16/15) as the only pitchers in WSH/TEX franchise history to allow 5-or-fewer runs in their first 4 starts for the team.
VS. LEFTIES: Montgomery limited left-handed batters to a .277/.292/.347/.639 (28-101) slash line with one HR and 22 SO/2 BB in 2023…lefties tallied just 4 extra-base hits (HR, 3B, 2 2B) off him this season, the last of which was a home run by Cody Bellinger on 7/23/23 at CHC w/ STL…he has issued walks to just 3 of 215 (1.39%) left-handed batters faced over the last 2 seasons (2022-23), easily the lowest walk pct. against lefties in MLB (min. 200 LH batters faced) over that span (2nd is 3.4% by Dylan Bundy)…lefties have slashed .221/.261/.319/.579 with 11 HR, 123 SO/20 BB off Montgomery in his career, as he owns the 3rd-lowest lifetime opp. OPS vs. LHB among active ML starters (min. 500 LHB faced) to only Chris Sale (.534) and Clayton Kershaw (.561).
