47 Frankie Montas SP

Montas (3-1) threw 5.1 innings, giving up seven runs (five earned) while allowing 11 hits and four walks in a 7-3 loss to Houston on Thursday. He struck out just one batter.

This will certainly be an outing to forget for Montas, who dominated in his first three starts this season prior to this outing. He allowed just one homer Thursday, but just couldn't keep Houston off the bases all day. The ugly performance shoots his ERA from 1.25 to 2.67 with 15 strikeouts and seven walks in 27 innings. Montas looks to turn things around next week in a solid matchup against San Diego.

Montas (3-0) got the win against the Royals on Friday, giving up two earned runs on six hits over 7.2 innings, striking out five and walking one in Oakland's 7-2 victory.

Make that three lights-out starts in a row for Montas, who has now won all three of his starts since making his season debut on May 27, and given up just three earned run over 22.2 innings in that time. His ability to work deep into games has been impressive, as this was the second start in a row where he's worked past the seventh inning. It's still too early to be forming definitive conclusions on him, but Montas is providing great returns so far, and he might be worth a stash to see if he's able to keep this up. He will have a tough assignment in his next start, as he's scheduled to face the Astros in a home start next Thursday.

Montas (2-0) cruised to an easy win in Friday's 16-0 rout of the Royals, scattering seven hits over eight scoreless innings while striking out two.

He benefited from three double plays behind him, but for a pitcher with a career 5.3 BB/9 in the majors coming into Friday, Montas did a remarkable job of pounding the zone with his heavy mid-90s fastball, firing 67 of 99 pitches for strikes. With two extremely impressive starts under his belt since his promotion, the A's have every reason to keep the 25-year-old in the rotation for now, setting him up for a rematch with a very exploitable Royals lineup back in Oakland on Thursday.

Montas will start Friday's game against the Royals, Jane Lee of MLB.com reports.

Montas made his season debut Sunday against the Diamondbacks, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out seven batters in a solid six innings of work. He should be viewed as a viable fantasy pitching option Friday against a relatively weak Royals offense that sports a sub-.700 team OPS against right-handed pitching.

Montas (1-0) picked up the win against the Diamondbacks on Sunday, giving up just one earned run on three hits over six innings, striking out seven and walking two as Oakland bagged a 2-1 victory.

After getting called up from Triple-A Nashville before this start to get the first crack at filling the spot in Oakland's rotation for the injured Brett Anderson (shoulder), Montas looked sharp in his first outing of the year, throwing six strong innings before exiting the contest after tossing 82 pitches. This was likely a good enough showing to earn Montas another go-around in the rotation with Anderson out. However, it's not clear at this point what that would mean for his fantasy prospects, as the 25-year-old had only thrown 47 career big-league innings coming into this start and had an unimpressive 6.32 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP over that time.