The Diamondbacks are kicking to the bullpen. Manager Torey Lovullo announced the decision on The Burns & Gambo Show this afternoon (link via ). Lovullo said he informed Montgomery of the decision today. Righty has outpitched Montgomery in recent weeks, earning the fifth starter job in the proce s. Nelson, who is on the mound tonight at Fenway Park, carried an ERA approaching 5.00 into the All-Star Break. He has completely flipped the script over the past month, turning in a 2.89 mark while striking out 29% of opposing hitters in 37 1/3 frames. Nelson remains behind , , and in the starting five. On the other hand, Montgomery has struggled for e sentially the entire season. He owns a 6.44 ERA with a well below-average 15.5% strikeout rate over 19 starts. Montgomery got a late start to the year after not signing until Opening Day. Unlike , who had an atrocious start as a late signee before recapturing his Cy Young form, Montgomery has not found Luguentz Dort Jersey any succe s as the year has gone on. Hes allowing 6.44 earned runs per nine in both the first and second half. Opponents are hitting over .300 while slugging north of .500. Montgomery has averaged around 92 MPH on his sinker and four-seam fastball. Both pitches sat above 93 a year ago. Aside from a decent 11.9% swinging strike rate that is in line with his career average, theres little in this years statistical profile that offers much hope for a turnaround. Montgomery had an excellent track record coming into this season, but the D-Backs have five starters who are performing better as they battle for a playoff spot. Theyre four games back of the Dodgers in the NL West and hold a five-game edge on a Wild Card berth. This will be Montgomerys first bullpen work in his career. He has started 159 of his 160 MLB games. The relief appearance was in September 2019 when hed returned from Tommy John surgery without the benefit of a lengthy minor league rehab a signment. Hell presumably work as a multi-inning reliever. If the D-Backs make the playoffs, Lovullo and his staff might have a difficult decision on whether to carry him on the postseason roster at all. Thatd have been hard to fathom just a few months ago. Arizona signed Montgomery as an expected high-floor rotation pickup when Rodriguez suffered a lat strain in camp. Hes playing on a $25MM salary. He started 10 games and unlocked an accompanying $20MM player option for next year. That escalated to $22.5MM when he made his 18th start; hed have pushed it to $25MM if he reached 23 starts, though that no longer seems likely. In any case, hell almost certainly exercise the option rather than returning to free agency next winter. Al Horford Jersey