We have stressed all offseason that the battle for spots in the Nationals bullpen is wide open. That means we could have some surprise contenders pitch their way on to the roster. One player who made a strong first impression is Bryce Montes De Oca, who struck out the side in his first outing of the spring.
The 29 year old Montes De Oca has been a favorite of analytics types for years now due to his nasty stuff. He has a fastball that can run into the triple digits, a wipeout slider, a tight low to mid
90’s cutter and a changeup. The raw stuff is good enough to be a high leverage arm. However, he has run into health and control questions.
Montes De Oca missed all of last season due to Tommy John, and has only thrown 10 innings since 2022. However, he looked good as new in his first spring outing. He was leaning on a nasty mid-80’s slider which accounted for all his strikeouts. The 6’7 righty also showed off his cutter, sinker and changeup. That one sinker he threw was 98 MPH.
This offseason Paul Toboni decided not to spend money on bullpen arms. Instead of paying guys like Lucas Sims and Colin Poche, Toboni looked for diamonds in the rough. Montes De Oca was one of the pitchers he signed to a minor league deal. He is a long shot to make the team out of camp due to his lack of work over the past few years.
However, if he continues to look like he did in his first outing, it could be time to have a conversation. It is not like the Nats bullpen is full of proven commodities that are locks to make the team. Sure, it has only been one appearance, but Montes De Oca looked much sharper than Andre Granillo, who had a much better chance of making the team entering camp.
Even before the Nats signed him to a minor league deal, there were people who saw something in Montes De Oca. His stuff just exploded off the page when you look at the data. In 2022, he averaged 100 with a 95 MPH cutter and a slider with crazy movement. Even if the stuff is a bit watered down after multiple Tommy John’s, what he showed the other night was still nasty.
Signing stuff monsters like this to minor league deals is a great process. If they fail to throw strikes or don’t look as sharp due to injuries, you can still just send them to the minors. However, arms like Montes De Oca do not grow on trees. He is unique, and unique is good in the pitching world.
Some of the pitches he was throwing before the injuries hit were downright ridiculous. There is one 101 MPH sinker that just moves across the plate that is totally nuts. It is one of the craziest pitches I have ever seen.
Sure, Montes De Oca has 7.55 walks per 9 in his MILB career, but the stuff is filthy. He also has 13.31 K/9 in his career as well. It is a fun gamble to take for a rebuilding team. An example of this approach working out well, at least in a small sample is Clayton Beeter.
Beeter does not have the injury history of a Montes De Oca, but he also has issues finding the zone at times. However, he still posted a 2.49 ERA in 24 outings due to his swing and miss stuff. There were times where he just didn’t have it, and was not able to find the zone. On the flip side, there were other outings where Beeter just overwhelmed hitters.
Bryce Montes De Oca is cut from the same cloth. When he is hitting his spots, he is absolutely untouchable. You are just going to have to have another reliever ready to warm up in a pinch because there will be nights where he does not have it. Even with his dominant outing the other night, Montes De Oca is still unlikely to break camp with the team. However, he will be a factor if his stuff looks this crisp.
Who knows, maybe all the arm issues have forced him to clean up his mechanics and he throws more strikes. It is a long shot, but we can dream. Bryce Montes De Oca’s dominant outing the other night caught my eye and it should make you guys pay attention too. Maybe just maybe Paul Toboni found a diamond in the rough.
